The o bS l ! rvation of diffraction in Deep Inela s tic: Scattering (DIS) at the IIERA el ec tr o n - proton collider generated considerahle excitement . This reac:tion provides an opportunit y to s t udy at a parton level the mechanism re s l > onsible for diffractive and elastic readion s in h a dronic: collisions . The ZEUS experiment , equipped with a Leading Proton Spectrometer (LPS) , i s ideally suited to obser v e thi s reaction (cp - + cpX) by detec : ting the proton pin addition to the electron c and photon fragment X. The reaction is approximately expe> - nential in the momentum transfer sq uared t with an ex!>onential slope b = u.u ± o.u~~ : ~ Gey2 . The inclusive cross section , eXIHessed as Ff(~), has been measured in the kinematic . region 5 < Q2 < 20 GeV 2 and ; (.11' < 0 . 0:3 . An analysis of this structure fundion indicates that the soft Pomeron trajectory is most al>l>ropriate , although shrinkage has not yet been c onnrmed . The ; ( . 11' dependence is observed to follow a power behavior Ff(~) e x ; (11' ' at t = -0 . 16 Gey2 , with a ntted to 1 . 08 ± .Ou~ : ?g. The inclusive event shape variables demon- s trate a nnal state similar to the hadronic . s ystem prod uced in c+ c- collisions at similar energy s cales . These conclusions are discussed in the context of other analyses of the same reaction at IIERA , with further discussion of the r>roblems of background and event selection fa c et : 1 by measurements not based on the observation of the nnal proton.

University of California Santa Cruz, Diss., 1998; 84 pp., (1998). doi:10.3204/PUBDB-2016-02630