The forward-jet cross section in deep inelastic ep scattering has been measured using the ZEUS detector at HERA with an integrated luminosity of 6.36 pb^-1. The jet cross section is presented as a function of jet transverse energy squared, E(T,jet)^2, and Q^2 in the kinematic ranges 10^-2<E(T,jet)^2/Q^2<10^2 and 2.5 10^-4<x<8.0 10^-2. Since the perturbative QCD predictions for this cross section are sensitive to the treatment of the log(E_T/Q)^2 terms, this measurement provides an important test. The measured cross section is compared to the predictions of a next-to-leading order pQCD calculation as well as to various leading-order Monte Carlo models. Whereas the predictions of all models agree with the measured cross section in the region of small E(T,Jet)^2/Q^2, only one model, which includes a resolved photon component, describes the data over the whole kinematic range.

A measurement of the proton structure function F_2(x,Q^2) is presented in the kinematic range 0.045 GeV^2 < Q^2 < 0.65 GeV^2 and 6*10^{-7} < x < 1*10^{-3}. The results were obtained using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.9pb^-1 in e^+p reactions recorded with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Information from a silicon-strip tracking detector, installed in front of the small electromagnetic calorimeter used to measure the energy of the final-state positron at small scattering angles, together with an enhanced simulation of the hadronic final state, has permitted the extension of the kinematic range beyond that of previous measurements. The uncertainties in F_2 are typically less than 4%. At the low Q^2 values of the present measurement, the rise of F_2 at low x is slower than observed in HERA data at higher Q^2 and can be described by Regge theory with a constant logarithmic slope. The dependence of F_2 on Q^2 is stronger than at higher Q^2 values, approaching, at the lowest Q^2 values of this measurement, a region where F_2 becomes nearly proportional to Q^2.

The production of D*+-(2010) mesons in deep inelastic scattering has been measured in the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 37 pb^-1. The decay channels D*+ -> D0 pi+(+c.c.), with D0 -> K- pi+ or D0 ->K- pi- pi+ pi+, have been used to identify the D mesons. The e+p cross section for inclusive D*+- production with 1<Q^2<600 GeV^2 and 0.02<y<0.7 is 8.31 +- 0.31(stat.) +0.30-0.50(syst.) nb in the kinematic region 1.5< pT(D*+-)<15 GeV and |eta(D*+-)|<1.5. Differential cross sections are consistent with a next-to-leading-order perturbative-QCD calculation when using charm-fragmentation models which take into account the interaction of the charm quark with the proton remnant. The observed cross section is extrapolated to the full kinematic region in pT(D*+-) and eta(D*+-) in order to determine the charm contribution, F^ccbar_2(x,Q^2), to the proton structure function. The ratio F^ccbar_2/F_2 rises from ~10% at Q^2 ~1.8 GeV^2 to ~30% at Q^2 ~130 GeV^2 for x values in the range 10^-4 to 10-3.

Differential dijet cross sections have been measured with the ZEUS detector for photoproduction events in which the hadronic final state containing the jets is separated with respect to the outgoing proton direction by a large rapidity gap. The cross section has been measured as a function of the fraction of the photon (x_gamma^OBS) and pomeron (beta^OBS) momentum participating in the production of the dijet system. The observed x_gamma^OBS dependence shows evidence for the presence of a resolved- as well as a direct-photon component. The measured cross section d(sigma)/d(beta^OBS) increases as beta^OBS increases indicating that there is a sizeable contribution to dijet production from those events in which a large fraction of the pomeron momentum participates in the hard scattering. These cross sections and the ZEUS measurements of the diffractive structure function can be described by calculations based on parton densities in the pomeron which evolve according to the QCD evolution equations and include a substantial hard momentum component of gluons in the pomeron.

Charged particles ($h^\pm$) and \kz mesons have been studied in photoproduced events containing at least one jet of $E_T > 8$ GeV in a pseudorapidity interval (--0.5, 0.5) in the ZEUS laboratory frame. Distributions are presented in terms of transverse momentum, pseudorapidity and distance of the particle from the axis of a jet. The properties of \hpm within the jet are described well using the standard settings of PYTHIA, but the use of the multiparton interaction option improves the description outside the jets. A reasonable overall description of the \kz behaviour is possible with PYTHIA using a reduced value of the strangeness suppression parameter. The numbers of $h^\pm$ and \kz within a jet as defined above are measured to be $3.25\pm0.02\pm0.28$ and $0.431\pm0.013\pm0.088$ respectively. Fragmentation functions are presented for $h^\pm$ and \kz in photoproduced jets; agreement is found with calculations of Binnewies et al. and, at higher momenta, with $p\bar p$ scattering and with standard PYTHIA. Fragmentation functions in direct photoproduced events are extracted, and at higher momenta give good agreement with data from related processes in $e^+e^-$ annihilation and deep inelastic $ep$ scattering.

The shapes of jets with transverse energies, E_T(jet), up to 45 GeV produced in neutral- and charged-current deep inelastic e+p scattering (DIS) at Q**2 > 100 GeV**2 have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Jets are identified using a cone algorithm in the eta-phi plane with a cone radius of one unit. The jets become narrower as E_T(jet) increases. The jet shapes in neutral- and charged-current DIS are found to be very similar. The jets in neutral-current DIS are narrower than those in resolved processes in photoproduction and closer to those in direct-photon processes for the same ranges in E_T(jet) and jet pseudorapidity. The jet shapes in DIS are observed to be similar to those in e+e- interactions and narrower than those in pbarp collisions for comparable E_T(jet). Since the jets in e+e- interactions and e+p DIS are predominantly quark initiated in both cases, the similarity in the jet shapes indicates that the pattern of QCD radiation within a quark jet is to a large extent independent of the hard scattering process in these reactions.

Dijet cross sections are presented using photoproduction data obtained with the ZEUS detector during 1994. These measurements represent an extension of previous results, as the higher statistics allow cross sections to be measured at higher jet transverse energy (ETJ). Jets are identified in the hadronic final state using three different algorithms, and the cross sections compared to complete next-to-leading order QCD calculations. Agreement with these calculations is seen for the pseudorapidity dependence of the direct photon events with ETJ > 6 GeV and of the resolved photon events with ETJ > 11 GeV. Calculated cross sections for resolved photon processes with 6 GeV < ETJ < 11 GeV lie below the data.

We present measurements of the structure function \Ft\ in $e~+p$ scattering at HERA in the range $3.5\;\Gevsq < \qsd < 5000\;\Gevsq$. A new reconstruction method has allowed a significant improvement in the resolution of the kinematic variables and an extension of the kinematic region covered by the experiment. At $ \qsd < 35 \;\Gevsq$ the range in $x$ now spans $6.3\cdot 10~{-5} < x < 0.08$ providing overlap with measurements from fixed target experiments. At values of $Q~2$ above 1000 GeV$~2$ the $x$ range extends to 0.5. Systematic errors below 5\perc\ have been achieved for most of the kinematic region. The structure function rises as \x\ decreases; the rise becomes more pronounced as \qsd\ increases. The behaviour of the structure function data is well described by next-to-leading order perturbative QCD as implemented in the DGLAP evolution equations.

Dijet production by almost real photons has been studied at HERA with the ZEUS detector. Jets have been identified using the cone algorithm. A cut on xg, the fraction of the photon energy participating in the production of the two jets of highest transverse energy, is used to define cross sections sensitive to the parton distributions in the proton and in the photon. The dependence of the dijet cross sections on pseudorapidity has been measured for xg $\ge 0.75$ and xg $< 0.75$. The former is sensitive to the gluon momentum density in the proton. The latter is sensitive to the gluon in the photon. The cross sections are corrected for detector acceptance and compared to leading order QCD calculations.

Photoproduction at HERA is studied in $ep$ collisions, with the ZEUS detector, for $\gamma p$ centre-of-mass energies ranging from 130-270 GeV. A sample of events with two high-$p_T$ jets ($p_T > 6$ GeV, $\eta <1.6$) and a third cluster in the approximate direction of the electron beam is isolated using a clustering algorithm. These events are mostly due to resolved photoproduction. The third cluster is identified as the photon remnant. Its properties, such as the transverse and longitudinal energy flows around the axis of the cluster, are consistent with those commonly attributed to jets, and in particular with those found for the two jets in these events. The mean value of the photon remnant $p_T$ with respect to the beam axis is measured to be $2.1 \pm 0.2$ GeV, which demonstrates substantial mean transverse momenta for the photon remnant.