First measurement of the virtual photon structure function

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6224164

Maxfield, S J

This thesis describes an experiment which made the first measurement of the structure function of virtual photons. The experiment was performed at the positron-electron storage ring PETRA at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron Laboratory in Hamburg, West Germany. The apparatus used was the PLUTO detector, upgraded to become a dedicated two-photon event detector. The structure function of virtual photons was measured using a sample of 74 double tagged two photon events in which one photon was tagged at high QS in the range 1.5-1.8 GeVS and the other was tagged at small QS in the range 0.1-1.0 GeVS. The structure function was measured as a function of x and of PS, the invariant mass squared of the target photons. For the structure function as a function of x, the data were interpolated to a QS value of 5 GeVS and a PS value of 0.35 GeVS. The observed structure function is a rising function of x and is approximately constant in PS.

• Research Organization: Maryland Univ., College Park (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6224164
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

645101* -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Interactions & Properties-Experimental-- Electromagnetic Interactions & Properties
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANNIHILATION
BASIC INTERACTIONS
COINCIDENCE METHODS
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DATA
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTRON-POSITRON INTERACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ENERGY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUNCTIONS
INFORMATION
INTERACTIONS
LEPTON-LEPTON INTERACTIONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
NUMERICAL DATA
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PETRA STORAGE RING
PHOTON-PHOTON INTERACTIONS
PHOTONS
Q-VALUE
STORAGE RINGS
STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS
TAGGED PHOTON METHOD
VIRTUAL PARTICLES