Three-jet production in deep inelastic ep scattering and photoproduction was investigated with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 127 pb-1. Measurements of differential cross sections are presented as functions of angular correlations between the three jets in the final state and the proton-beam direction. These correlations provide a stringent test of perturbative QCD and show sensitivity to the contributions from different colour configurations. Fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations assuming the values of the colour factors C_F, C_A and T_F as derived from a variety of gauge groups were compared to the measurements to study the underlying gauge group symmetry. The measured angular correlations in the deep inelastic ep scattering and photoproduction regimes are consistent with the admixture of colour configurations as predicted by SU(3) and disfavour other symmetry groups, such as SU(N) in the limit of large N.
Integrated 3-jet photoproduction cross section.
Integrated 3-jet cross sections in NC DIS.
Normalized differential 3-jet photoproduction cross section as a function of THETA(H).
The dijet cross section in photoproduction has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb$^{-1}$. The events were required to have a virtuality of the incoming photon, $Q^2$, of less than 1 GeV$^2$ and a photon-proton centre-of-mass energy in the range $134 < W_{\gamma p} < 277$ GeV. Each event contains at least two jets satisfying transverse-energy requirements of $E_{T}^{\rm jet1}>14$ GeV and $E_{T}^{\rm jet2}>11$ GeV and pseudorapidity requirements of $-1<\eta^{\rm jet1,2}<2.4$. The measurements are compared to next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. The data show particular sensitivity to the density of partons in the photon, allowing the validity of the current parameterisations to be tested.
Measured cross section as a function of COS(THETA*), where THETA* is the dijet angle in the parton-parton c.m. frame. The data are shown in two X(C=GAMMA) regions.
Measured cross section as a function of ET(JET1) for X(C=GAMMA) > 0.75 for:. -1 < ETARAP(JET1) < 0. -1 < ETARAP(JET2) < 0.
Measured cross section as a function of ET(JET1) for X(C=GAMMA) > 0.75 for:. 0 < ETARAP(JET1) < 1. -1 < ETARAP(JET2) < 0.