A combination is presented of all inclusive deep inelastic cross sections previously published by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations at HERA for neutral and charged current $e^{\pm}p$ scattering for zero ...beam polarisation. The data were taken at proton beam energies of 920, 820, 575 and 460 GeV and an electron beam energy of 27.5 GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb$^{-1}$ and span six orders of magnitude in negative four-momentum-transfer squared, $Q^2$, and Bjorken $x$. The correlations of the systematic uncertainties were evaluated and taken into account for the combination. The combined cross sections were input to QCD analyses at leading order, next-to-leading order and at next-to-next-to-leading order, providing a new set of parton distribution functions, called HERAPDF2.0. In addition to the experimental uncertainties, model and parameterisation uncertainties were assessed for these parton distribution functions. Variants of HERAPDF2.0 with an alternative gluon parameterisation, HERAPDF2.0AG, and using fixed-flavour-number schemes, HERAPDF2.0FF, are presented. The analysis was extended by including HERA data on charm and jet production, resulting in the variant HERAPDF2.0Jets. The inclusion of jet-production cross sections made a simultaneous determination of these parton distributions and the strong coupling constant possible, resulting in $\alpha_s(M_Z)=0.1183 \pm 0.0009 {\rm(exp)} \pm 0.0005{\rm (model/parameterisation)} \pm 0.0012{\rm (hadronisation)} ^{+0.0037}_{-0.0030}{\rm (scale)}$. An extraction of $xF_3^{\gamma Z}$ and results on electroweak unification and scaling violations are also presented.
.
Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high ...temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (
s
N
N
=
2.7--4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (
μ
B
>
500
MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation of state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2024, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.
Measurements of open charm and beauty production cross sections in deep inelastic
ep
scattering at HERA from the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations are combined. Reduced cross sections are obtained in the ...kinematic range of negative four-momentum transfer squared of the photon
2.5
GeV
2
≤
Q
2
≤
2000
GeV
2
and Bjorken scaling variable
3
·
10
-
5
≤
x
Bj
≤
5
·
10
-
2
. The combination method accounts for the correlations of the statistical and systematic uncertainties among the different datasets. Perturbative QCD calculations are compared to the combined data. A next-to-leading order QCD analysis is performed using these data together with the combined inclusive deep inelastic scattering cross sections from HERA. The running charm- and beauty-quark masses are determined as
m
c
(
m
c
)
=
1
.
290
-
0.041
+
0.046
(
exp
/
fit
)
-
0.014
+
0.062
(
model
)
-
0.031
+
0.003
(
parameterisation
)
GeV and
m
b
(
m
b
)
=
4
.
049
-
0.109
+
0.104
(
exp
/
fit
)
-
0.032
+
0.090
(
model
)
-
0.031
+
0.001
(
parameterisation
)
GeV
.
Cross sections for elastic and proton-dissociative photoproduction of
J
/
ψ
mesons are measured with the H1 detector in positron-proton collisions at HERA. The data were collected at
ep
...centre-of-mass energies
and
, corresponding to integrated luminosities of
and
, respectively. The cross sections are measured as a function of the photon-proton centre-of-mass energy in the range 25<
W
γp
<110 GeV. Differential cross sections d
σ
/d
t
, where
t
is the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex, are measured in the range |
t
|<1.2 GeV
2
for the elastic process and |
t
|<8 GeV
2
for proton dissociation. The results are compared to other measurements. The
W
γp
and
t
-dependences are parametrised using phenomenological fits.
Measurements of open charm production cross sections in deep-inelastic
ep
scattering at HERA from the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations are combined. Reduced cross sections
for charm production are obtained ...in the kinematic range of photon virtuality 2.5≤
Q
2
≤2000 GeV
2
and Bjorken scaling variable 3⋅10
−5
≤
x
≤5⋅10
−2
. The combination method accounts for the correlations of the systematic uncertainties among the different data sets. The combined charm data together with the combined inclusive deep-inelastic scattering cross sections from HERA are used as input for a detailed NLO QCD analysis to study the influence of different heavy flavour schemes on the parton distribution functions. The optimal values of the charm mass as a parameter in these different schemes are obtained. The implications on the NLO predictions for
W
±
and
Z
production cross sections at the LHC are investigated. Using the fixed flavour number scheme, the running mass of the charm quark is determined.
We report results on the performance of a free-electron laser operating at a wavelength of 13.7 nm where unprecedented peak and average powers for a coherent extreme-ultraviolet radiation source have ...been measured. In the saturation regime, the peak energy approached 170 µJ for individual pulses, and the average energy per pulse reached 70 µJ. The pulse duration was in the region of 10 fs, and peak powers of 10 GW were achieved. At a pulse repetition frequency of 700 pulses per second, the average extreme-ultraviolet power reached 20 mW. The output beam also contained a significant contribution from odd harmonics of approximately 0.6% and 0.03% for the 3rd (4.6 nm) and the 5th (2.75 nm) harmonics, respectively. At 2.75 nm the 5th harmonic of the radiation reaches deep into the water window, a wavelength range that is crucially important for the investigation of biological samples.
A precision measurement of jet cross sections in neutral current deep-inelastic scattering for photon virtualities
5.5
<
Q
2
<
80
GeV
2
and inelasticities
0.2
<
y
<
0.6
is presented, using data taken ...with the H1 detector at HERA, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
290
pb
-
1
. Double-differential inclusive jet, dijet and trijet cross sections are measured simultaneously and are presented as a function of jet transverse momentum observables and as a function of
Q
2
. Jet cross sections normalised to the inclusive neutral current DIS cross section in the respective
Q
2
-interval are also determined. Previous results of inclusive jet cross sections in the range
150
<
Q
2
<
15
,
000
GeV
2
are extended to low transverse jet momenta
5
<
P
T
jet
<
7
GeV
. The data are compared to predictions from perturbative QCD in next-to-leading order in the strong coupling, in approximate next-to-next-to-leading order and in full next-to-next-to-leading order. Using also the recently published H1 jet data at high values of
Q
2
, the strong coupling constant
α
s
(
M
Z
)
is determined in next-to-leading order.
The strong coupling constant
α
s
is determined from inclusive jet and dijet cross sections in neutral-current deep-inelastic
ep
scattering (DIS) measured at HERA by the H1 collaboration using ...next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD predictions. The dependence of the NNLO predictions and of the resulting value of
α
s
(
m
Z
)
at the
Z
-boson mass
m
Z
are studied as a function of the choice of the renormalisation and factorisation scales. Using inclusive jet and dijet data together, the strong coupling constant is determined to be
α
s
(
m
Z
)
=
0.1157
(
20
)
exp
(
29
)
th
. Complementary,
α
s
(
m
Z
)
is determined together with parton distribution functions of the proton (PDFs) from jet and inclusive DIS data measured by the H1 experiment. The value
α
s
(
m
Z
)
=
0.1142
(
28
)
tot
obtained is consistent with the determination from jet data alone. The impact of the jet data on the PDFs is studied. The running of the strong coupling is tested at different values of the renormalisation scale and the results are found to be in agreement with expectations.
A measurement is presented of the inclusive neutral current
e
±
p
scattering cross section using data collected by the H1 experiment at HERA during the years 2003 to 2007 with proton beam energies
E
...p
of 920, 575, and 460 GeV. The kinematic range of the measurement covers low absolute four-momentum transfers squared, 1.5 GeV
2
<
Q
2
<120 GeV
2
, small values of Bjorken
x
, 2.9⋅10
−5
<
x
<0.01, and extends to high inelasticity up to
y
=0.85. The structure function
F
L
is measured by combining the new results with previously published H1 data at
E
p
=920 GeV and
E
p
=820 GeV. The new measurements are used to test several phenomenological and QCD models applicable in this low
Q
2
and low
x
kinematic domain.
A detailed analysis is presented of the diffractive deep-inelastic scattering process ep→eXY, where Y is a proton or a low mass proton excitation carrying a fraction 1-xIP>0.95 of the incident proton ...longitudinal momentum and the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex satisfies |t|<1 GeV2. Using data taken by the H1 experiment, the cross section is measured for photon virtualities in the range 3.5≤Q2≤1600 GeV2, triple differentially in xIP, Q2 and β=x/xIP, where x is the Bjorken scaling variable. At low xIP, the data are consistent with a factorisable xIP dependence, which can be described by the exchange of an effective pomeron trajectory with intercept αIP(0)=1.118±0.008(exp.)+0.029-0.010(model). Diffractive parton distribution functions and their uncertainties are determined from a next-to-leading order DGLAP QCD analysis of the Q2 and β dependences of the cross section. The resulting gluon distribution carries an integrated fraction of around 70% of the exchanged momentum in the Q2 range studied. Total and differential cross sections are also measured for the diffractive charged current process e+p→ν̄eXY and are found to be well described by predictions based on the diffractive parton distributions. The ratio of the diffractive to the inclusive neutral current ep cross sections is studied. Over most of the kinematic range, this ratio shows no significant dependence on Q2 at fixed xIP and x or on x at fixed Q2 and β.
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