The interaction of virtual photons is investigated using double tagged gammagamma events with hadronic final states recorded by the ALEPH experiment at e^+e^- centre-of-mass energies between 188 and 209 GeV. The measured cross section is compared to Monte Carlo models, and to next-to-leading-order QCD and BFKL calculations.

The production of two high-p_T jets in the interactions of quasi-real photons in e+e- collisions at sqrt{s_ee} from 189 GeV to 209 GeV is studied with data corresponding to an integrated e+e- luminosity of 550 pb^{-1}. The jets reconstructed by the k_T cluster algorithm are defined within the pseudo-rapidity range -1 < eta < 1 and with jet transverse momentum, p_T, above 3 GeV/c. The differential di-jet cross-section is measured as a function of the mean transverse momentum ptmean of the jets and is compared to perturbative QCD calculations.

Di-jet producion is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons at e+e- centre- of-mass energies sqrt(s)ee from 189 to 209 GeV at LEP. The data were collected with the OPAL detector. Jets are reconstructed using an inclusive k_t clustering algorithm for all cross-section measurements presented. A cone jet algorithm is used in addition to study the different structure of the jets resulting from either of the algorithms. The inclusive di-jet cross-section is measured as a function of the mean transverse energy Etm(jet) of the two leading jets, and as a functiuon of the estimated fraction of the photon momentum carried by the parton entering the hard sub-process, xg, for different regions of Etm (jet). Angular distribution in di-jet events are measured and used to demonstrate the dominance of quark and gluon initiated processes in different regions of phase space. Furthermore the inclusive di-jet cross-section as a function of |eta(jet)| and |delta eta (jet)| is presented where eta(jet) is the jet pseudo-rapidity. Different regions of the xg+ -xg- -space are explored to study and control the influence of an underlying event. The results are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and to the predictions of the leading order Monte Carlo generator PYTHIA.

We report on a high statistics measurement of the total and differential cross sections of the process gamma gamma -> pi^+ pi^- in the pi^+ pi^- invariant mass range 0.8 GeV/c^2 < W < 1.5 GeV/c^2 with 85.9 fb^{-1} of data collected at sqrt{s}=10.58 GeV and 10.52 GeV with the Belle detector. A clear signal of the f_0(980) resonance is observed in addition to the f_2(1270) resonance. An improved 90% confidence level upper limit Br.(eta'(958) -> pi^+ pi^-) < 2.9 x 10^{-3} is obtained for P- and CP-violating decay of the eta'(958) meson using the most conservative assumption about the interference with the background.

During 1993 and 1995 LEP was run at 3 energies near the Z$^0$peak in order to give improved measurements of the mass and width of the resonance. During 1994, LEP o

We report a high-statistics measurement of differential cross sections for the process gamma gamma -> pi^0 pi^0 in the kinematic range 0.6 GeV <= W <= 4.0 GeV and |cos theta*| <= 0.8, where W and theta* are the energy and pion scattering angle, respectively, in the gamma gamma center-of-mass system. Differential cross sections are fitted to obtain information on S, D_0, D_2, G_0 and G_2 waves. The G waves are important above W ~= 1.6 GeV. For W <= 1.6 GeV the D_2 wave is dominated by the f_2(1270) resonance while the S wave requires at least one additional resonance besides the f_0(980), which may be the f_0(1370) or f_0(1500). The differential cross sections are fitted with a simple parameterization to determine the parameters (the mass, total width and Gamma_{gamma gamma}B(f_0 -> pi^0 pi^0)) of this scalar meson as well as the f_0(980). The helicity 0 fraction of the f_2(1270) meson, taking into account interference for the first time, is also obtained.

Exclusive production of $\rho^0$ and $J/\psi$ mesons in e^+ p collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector in the kinematic range $0.25 < Q^2 < 50 GeV^2, 20 < W < 167 GeV$ for the $\rho^0$ data and $2 < Q^2 < 40 GeV^2, 50 < W < 150 GeV$ for the $J/\psi$ data. Cross sections for exclusive $\rho^0$ and $J/\psi$ production have been measured as a function of $Q^2, W$ and $t$. The spin-density matrix elements $r^{04}_{00}, r^1_{1-1}$ and $Re r^{5}_{10}$ have been determined for exclusive $\rho^0$ production as well as $r^{04}_{00}$ and $r^{04}_{1-1}$ for exclusive $J/\psi$ production. The results are discussed in the context of theoretical models invoking soft and hard phenomena.

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.

The DIS diffractive cross section, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^* p \to XN}/dM_X$, has been measured in the mass range $M_X < 15$ GeV for $\gamma^*p$ c.m. energies $60 < W < 200$ GeV and photon virtualities $Q^2 = 7$ to 140 GeV$^2$. For fixed $Q^2$ and $M_X$, the diffractive cross section rises rapidly with $W$, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^*p \to XN}(M_X,W,Q^2)/dM_X \propto W^{a^{diff}}$ with $a^{diff} = 0.507 \pm 0.034 (stat)^{+0.155}_{-0.046}(syst)$ corresponding to a $t$-averaged pomeron trajectory of $\bar{\alphapom} = 1.127 \pm 0.009 (stat)^{+0.039}_{-0.012} (syst)$ which is larger than $\bar{\alphapom}$ observed in hadron-hadron scattering. The $W$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is found to be the same as that of the total cross section for scattering of virtual photons on protons. The data are consistent with the assumption that the diffractive structure function $F^{D(3)}_2$ factorizes according to $\xpom F^{D(3)}_2 (\xpom,\beta,Q^2) = (x_0/ \xpom)^n F^{D(2)}_2(\beta,Q^2)$. They are also consistent with QCD based models which incorporate factorization breaking. The rise of $\xpom F^{D(3)}_2$ with decreasing $\xpom$ and the weak dependence of $F^{D(2)}_2$ on $Q^2$ suggest a substantial contribution from partonic interactions.

The transition between photoproduction and deep-inelastic scattering is investigated in jet production at the HERA ep collider, using data collected by the H1 experiment. Measurements of the differential inclusive jet cross-sections dsigep/dEt* and dsigmep/deta*, where Et* and eta* are the transverse energy and the pseudorapidity of the jets in the virtual photon-proton centre of mass frame, are presented for 0 < Q2 < 49 GeV2 and 0.3 < y < 0.6. The interpretation of the results in terms of the structure of the virtual photon is discussed. The data are best described by QCD calculations which include a partonic structure of the virtual photon that evolves with Q2.

The cross section for dijet photoproduction at high transverse energies is presented as a function of the transverse energies and the pseudorapidities of the jets. The measurement is performed using a sample of ep-interactions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6.3 pb^(-1), recorded by the ZEUS detector.Jets are defined by applying a k_T-clustering algorithm to the hadrons observed in the final state. The measured cross sections are compared to next-to-leading order QCD calculations. In a kinematic regime where theoretical uncertainties are expected to be small, the measured cross sections are higher than these calculations.

We measured the inclusive electron-proton cross section in the nucleon resonance region (W < 2.5 GeV) at momentum transfers Q**2 below 4.5 (GeV/c)**2 with the CLAS detector. The large acceptance of CLAS allowed for the first time the measurement of the cross section in a large, contiguous two-dimensional range of Q**2 and x, making it possible to perform an integration of the data at fixed Q**2 over the whole significant x-interval. From these data we extracted the structure function F2 and, by including other world data, we studied the Q**2 evolution of its moments, Mn(Q**2), in order to estimate higher twist contributions. The small statistical and systematic uncertainties of the CLAS data allow a precise extraction of the higher twists and demand significant improvements in theoretical predictions for a meaningful comparison with new experimental results.

Deep inelastic scattering and its diffractive component, ep -> e'gamma*p ->e'XN, have been studied at HERA with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of 4.2 pb-1. The measurement covers a wide range in the gamma*p c.m. energy W (37 - 245 GeV), photon virtuality Q2 (2.2 - 80 GeV2) and mass Mx. The diffractive cross section for Mx > 2 GeV rises strongly with W: the rise is steeper with increasing Q2. The latter observation excludes the description of diffractive deep inelastic scattering in terms of the exchange of a single Pomeron. The ratio of diffractive to total cross section is constant as a function of W, in contradiction to the expectation of Regge phenomenology combined with a naive extension of the optical theorem to gamma*p scattering. Above Mx of 8 GeV, the ratio is flat with Q2, indicating a leading-twist behaviour of the diffractive cross section. The data are also presented in terms of the diffractive structure function, F2D(3)(beta,xpom,Q2), of the proton. For fixed beta, the Q2 dependence of xpom F2D(3) changes with xpom in violation of Regge factorisation. For fixed xpom, xpom F2D(3) rises as beta -> 0, the rise accelerating with increasing Q2. These positive scaling violations suggest substantial contributions of perturbative effects in the diffractive DIS cross section.

A new method is employed to measure the neutral current cross section up to Bjorken-x values of one with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 65.1 pb-1 for e+p collisions and 16.7 pb-1 for e-p collisions at sqrt{s}=318 GeV and 38.6 pb-1 for e+p collisions at sqrt{s}=300 GeV. Cross sections have been extracted for Q2 >= 648 GeV2 and are compared to predictions using different parton density functions. For the highest x bins, the data have a tendency to lie above the expectations using recent parton density function parametrizations.

We have measured the cross section of four charged pion production in photon-photon interactions in the invariant mass range 1.0≦Wγγ≦3.2 GeV and up toQ2=16 GeV2. For 1.2 GeV≦Wγγ≦1.7 GeV the process is dominated by ρ0ρ0 production with a rapid rise in cross section around 1.2 GeV, well below the nominal ρ0ρ0 threshold. The observed distributions in the two particle masses and in the production and decay angles are well described by an incoherent sum of the phase-space subprocesses γγ →ρ0ρ0, →ρ0π+π−, and →π+π−π+π−. A spin-parity analysis of the ρ0ρ0 system showsJP=2+ to dominate, although 0+ is also possible forWγγ≦1.4 GeV. Negative partity states are excluded.

Cross sections for e^+p neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt{s}=318 GeV with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 63.2 pb^-1. The double-differential cross section, d^2sigma/dxdQ^2, is presented for 200 GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30000 GeV^2 and for 0.005 < x < 0.65. The single-differential cross-sections dsigma/dQ^2, dsigma/dx and dsigma/dy are presented for Q^2 > 200 GeV^2. The effect of Z-boson exchange is seen in dsigma/dx measured for Q^2 > 10000 GeV^2. The data presented here were combined with ZEUS e^+p neutral current data taken at sqrt{s}=300 GeV and the structure function F_2^{em} was extracted. All results agree well with the predictions of the Standard Model.

The total and the differential cross sections for the reaction e + e − → γγ ( γ ) have been measured with the DELPHI detector at LEP using an integrated luminosity of 36.9 pb −1 . The results agree with the QED predictions and consequently there is no evidence for non-standard channels with the same experimental signature. The lower limits obtained on the QED cutoff parameters are Λ + > 143 GeV and Λ − > 120 GeV, and the lower bound on the mass of an excited electron with an effective coupling constant λ γ = 1 is 132 GeV/ c 2 . Upper limits on the branching ratios for the decays Z 0 → γγ , Z 0 → π 0 γ , Z 0 → ηγ and Z 0 → γγγ have been determined to be 5.5 × 10 −5 , 5.5 × 10 −5 , 8.0 × 10 −5 , and 1.7 × 10 −5 respectively. All the limits are at the 95% confidence level.

Charm production in deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 82 pb^{-1}. Charm has been tagged by reconstructing D^{*+}, D^0, D^{+} and D_s^+ (+ c.c.) charm mesons. The charm hadrons were measured in the kinematic range p_T(D^{*+},D^0,D^{+}) > 3 GeV, p_T(D_s^+)>2 GeV and |\eta(D)| < 1.6 for 1.5 < Q^2 < 1000 GeV^2 and 0.02 < y < 0.7. The production cross sections were used to extract charm fragmentation ratios and the fraction of c quarks hadronising into a particular charm meson in the kinematic range considered. The cross sections were compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD, and extrapolated to the full kinematic region in p_T(D) and \eta(D) in order to determine the open-charm contribution, F_2^{c\bar{c}}(x,Q^2), to the proton structure function F_2.

Dijet cross sections as functions of several jet observables are measured in photoproduction using the H1 detector at HERA. The data sample comprises e^+p data with an integrated luminosity of 34.9 pb^(-1). Jets are selected using the inclusive k_T algorithm with a minimum transverse energy of 25 GeV for the leading jet. The phase space covers longitudinal proton momentum fraction x_p and photon longitudinal momentum fraction x_gamma in the ranges 0.05<x_p<0.6 and 0.1<x_gamma<1. The predictions of next-to-leading order perturbative QCD, including recent photon and proton parton densities, are found to be compatible with the data in a wide kinematical range.

The production of neutrons carrying at least 20% of the proton beam energy ($\xl > 0.2$) in $e^+p$ collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA for a wide range of $Q^2$, the photon virtuality, from photoproduction to deep inelastic scattering. The neutron-tagged cross section, $e p\to e' X n$, is measured relative to the inclusive cross section, $e p\to e' X$, thereby reducing the systematic uncertainties. For $\xl >$ 0.3, the rate of neutrons in photoproduction is about half of that measured in hadroproduction, which constitutes a clear breaking of factorisation. There is about a 20% rise in the neutron rate between photoproduction and deep inelastic scattering, which may be attributed to absorptive rescattering in the $\gamma p$ system. For $0.64 < \xl < 0.82$, the rate of neutrons is almost independent of the Bjorken scaling variable $x$ and $Q^2$. However, at lower and higher $\xl$ values, there is a clear but weak dependence on these variables, thus demonstrating the breaking of limiting fragmentation. The neutron-tagged structure function, ${{F}^{\rm\tiny LN(3)}_2}(x,Q^2,\xl)$, rises at low values of $x$ in a way similar to that of the inclusive \ff of the proton. The total $\gamma \pi$ cross section and the structure function of the pion, $F^{\pi}_2(x_\pi,Q^2)$ where $x_\pi = x/(1-\xl)$, have been determined using a one-pion-exchange model, up to uncertainties in the normalisation due to the poorly understood pion flux. At fixed $Q^2$, $F^{\pi}_2$ has approximately the same $x$ dependence as $F_2$ of the proton.

The production of hard di-jet events in photoproduction at HERA is dominated by resolved photon processes in which a parton in the photon with momentum fraction x_gamma is scattered from a parton in the proton. These processes are sensitive to the quark and gluon content of the photon. The differential di-jet cross-section dsigma/dlog(x_gamma) is presented here, measured in tagged photoproduction at HERA using data taken with the H1 detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7.2 pb^(-1). Using a restricted data sample at high transverse jet energy, E_(T,jet)>6 GeV, the effective parton density f_gamma,eff(x_gamma) = [q(x_gamma) + bar(q)(x_gamma) +9/4g(x_gamma)] in the photon in leading order QCD is measured down to x_gamma=0.05 from which the gluon density in the photon is derived.

The production of energetic neutrons in $ep$ collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The neutron energy and $p_T^2$ distributions were measured with a forward neutron calorimeter and tracker in a $40 \pb^{-1}$ sample of inclusive deep inelastic scattering (DIS) data and a $6 \pb^{-1}$ sample of photoproduction data. The neutron yield in photoproduction is suppressed relative to DIS for the lower neutron energies and the neutrons have a steeper $p_T^2$ distribution, consistent with the expectation from absorption models. The distributions are compared to HERA measurements of leading protons. The neutron energy and transverse-momentum distributions in DIS are compared to Monte Carlo simulations and to the predictions of particle exchange models. Models of pion exchange incorporating absorption and additional secondary meson exchanges give a good description of the data.

The production of the neutral strange hadrons $K^{0}_{S}$, $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ has been measured in $ep$ collisions at HERA using the ZEUS detector. Cross sections, baryon-to-meson ratios, relative yields of strange and charged light hadrons, $\Lambda$ ($\bar{\Lambda}$) asymmetry and polarization have been measured in three kinematic regions: $Q^2 > 25 \gev^2$: $5 < Q^2 < 25 \gev^2$: and in photoproduction ($Q^2 \simeq 0$). In photoproduction the presence of two hadronic jets, each with at least $5 \gev$ transverse energy, was required. The measurements agree in general with Monte Carlo models and are consistent with measurements made at $e^+ e^-$ colliders, except for an enhancement of baryon relative to meson production in photoproduction.

Deep-inelastic positron-proton interactions at low values of Bjorken-x down to x \approx 4.10^-5 which give rise to high transverse momentum pi^0 mesons are studied with the H1 experiment at HERA. The inclusive cross section for pi^0 mesons produced at small angles with respect to the proton remnant (the forward region) is presented as a function of the transverse momentum and energy of the pi^0 and of the four-momentum transfer Q^2 and Bjorken-x. Measurements are also presented of the transverse energy flow in events containing a forward pi^0 meson. Hadronic final state calculations based on QCD models implementing different parton evolution schemes are confronted with the data.

A detailed analysis is presented of the diffractive deep-inelastic scattering process $ep\to eXY$, where $Y$ is a proton or a low mass proton excitation carrying a fraction $1 - \xpom > 0.95$ of the incident proton longitudinal momentum and the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex satisfies $|t|&lt;1 {\rm GeV^2}$. Using data taken by the H1 experiment, the cross section is measured for photon virtualities in the range $3.5 \leq Q^2 \leq 1600 \rm GeV^2$, triple differentially in $\xpom$, $Q^2$ and $\beta = x / \xpom$, where $x$ is the Bjorken scaling variable. At low $\xpom$, the data are consistent with a factorisable $\xpom$ dependence, which can be described by the exchange of an effective pomeron trajectory with intercept $\alphapom(0)= 1.118 \pm 0.008 {\rm (exp.)} ^{+0.029}_{-0.010} {\rm (model)}$. Diffractive parton distribution functions and their uncertainties are determined from a next-to-leading order DGLAP QCD analysis of the $Q^2$ and $\beta$ dependences of the cross section. The resulting gluon distribution carries an integrated fraction of around 70% of the exchanged momentum in the $Q^2$ range studied. Total and differential cross sections are also measured for the diffractive charged current process $e^+ p \to \bar{\nu}_e XY$ and are found to be well described by predictions based on the diffractive parton distributions. The ratio of the diffractive to the inclusive neutral current $ep$ cross sections is studied. Over most of the kinematic range, this ratio shows no significant dependence on $Q^2$ at fixed $\xpom$ and $x$ or on $x$ at fixed $Q^2$ and $\beta$.