C. Adloff et al., DETERMINATION OF THE LONGITUDINAL PROTON STRUCTURE-FUNCTION F-L(X,Q(2)) AT LOW X, Physics letters. Section B, 393(3-4), 1997, pp. 452-464
A measurement of the inclusive cross section for the deep-inelastic sc
attering of positrons off protons at HERA is presented at momentum tra
nsfers 8.5 less than or equal to Q(2) less than or equal to 35 GeV2 an
d large inelasticity (y)=0.7, i.e. for the Bjorken-x range 0.00013 <x
<0.00055. Using a next-to-leading order QCD fit to the structure funct
ion F-2 at lower y values, the contribution of F-2 to the measured cro
ss section at high y is calculated and, by subtraction, the longitudin
al structure function F-L is determined for the first time with an ave
rage value of F-L=0.52+/-0.03 (stat)(-0.22)(+0.25) (syst) at Q(2)=15.4
GeV2 and x=0.000243.