A search for single top quark production is performed in e^\pm p collisions at HERA. The search exploits data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 118.3 pb^-1. A model for the anomalous production of top quarks in a flavour changing neutral current process involving a t-u-gamma coupling is investigated. Decays of top quarks into a b quark and a W boson are considered in the leptonic and the hadronic decay channels of the W. Both a cut-based analysis and a multivariate likelihood analysis are performed to discriminate anomalous top quark production from Standard Model background processes. In the leptonic channel, 5 events are found while 1.31 \pm 0.22 events are expected from the Standard Model background. In the hadronic channel, no excess above the expectation for Standard Model processes is found. These observations lead to a cross section \sigma (ep -> e t X) = 0.29 +0.15 -0.14 pb at \sqrt{s} = 319 GeV. Alternatively, assuming that the observed events are due to a statistical fluctuation, upper limits of 0.55 pb on the anomalous top production cross section and of 0.27 on the t-u-gamma coupling \kappa_{t-u-gamma} are established at the 95% confidence level.

Single particles and jets in deeply inelastic scattering at low x are measured with the H1 detector in the region away from the current jet and towards the proton remnant, known as the forward region. Hadronic final state measurements in this region are expected to be particularly sensitive to QCD evolution effects. Jet cross-sections are presented as a function of Bjorken-x for forward jets produced with a polar angle to the proton direction, theta, in the range 7 < theta < 20 degrees. Azimuthal correlations are studied between the forward jet and the scattered lepton. Charged and neutral single particle production in the forward region are measured as a function of Bjorken-x, in the range 5 < theta < 25 degrees, for particle transverse momenta larger than 1 GeV. QCD based Monte Carlo predictions and analytical calculations based on BFKL, CCFM and DGLAP evolution are compared to the data. Predictions based on the DGLAP approach fail to describe the data, except for those which allow for a resolved photon contribution.

A combination is presented of the inclusive deep inelastic cross sections measured by the H1 and ZEUS Collaborations in neutral and charged current unpolarised ep scattering at HERA during the period 1994-2000. The data span six orders of magnitude in negative four-momentum-transfer squared, Q^2, and in Bjorken x. The combination method used takes the correlations of systematic uncertainties into account, resulting in an improved accuracy. The combined data are the sole input in a NLO QCD analysis which determines a new set of parton distributions HERAPDF1.0 with small experimental uncertainties. This set includes an estimate of the model and parametrisation uncertainties of the fit result.

Measurements of transverse energy flow are presented for neutral current deep-inelastic scattering events produced in positron-proton collisions at HERA. The kinematic range covers squared momentum transfers Q^2 from 3.2 to 2,200 GeV^2, the Bjorken scaling variable x from 8.10^{-5} to 0.11 and the hadronic mass W from 66 to 233 GeV. The transverse energy flow is measured in the hadronic centre of mass frame and is studied as a function of Q^2, x, W and pseudorapidity. A comparison is made with QCD based models. The behaviour of the mean transverse energy in the central pseudorapidity region and an interval corresponding to the photon fragmentation region are analysed as a function of Q^2 and W.

Deep-inelastic ep scattering data, taken with the H1 detector at HERA, are used to study the event shape variables thrust, jet broadening, jet mass, C parameter and two kinds of differential two-jet rate. The data cover a large range of the four-momentum transfer Q, which is considered to be the relevant energy scale, between 7 GeV and 100 GeV. The Q dependences of the mean values are compared with second order calculations of perturbative QCD applying power law corrections proportional to 1/Q^p to account for hadronization effects. The concept of power corrections is investigated by fitting simultaneously a non-perturbative parameter alpha_p and the strong coupling constant alpha_s.

A measurement is presented of dijet and 3-jet cross sections in low-|t| diffractive deep-inelastic scattering interactions of the type ep -> eXY, where the system X is separated by a large rapidity gap from a low-mass baryonic system Y. Data taken with the H1 detector at HERA, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 18.0 pb^(-1), are used to measure hadron level single and double differential cross sections for 4<Q^2<80 GeV^2, x_pom<0.05 and p_(T,jet)>4 GeV. The energy flow not attributed to jets is also investigated. The measurements are consistent with a factorising diffractive exchange with trajectory intercept close to 1.2 and tightly constrain the dominating diffractive gluon distribution. Viewed in terms of the diffractive scattering of partonic fluctuations of the photon, the data require the dominance of qqbarg over qqbar states. Soft colour neutralisation models in their present form cannot simultaneously reproduce the shapes and the normalisations of the differential cross sections. Models based on 2-gluon exchange are able to reproduce the shapes of the cross sections at low x_pom values.

Jet production is studied in the Breit frame in deep-inelastic positron-proton scattering over a large range of four-momentum transfers 5 < Q^2 < 15000 GeV^2 and transverse jet energies 7 < E_T < 60 GeV. The analysis is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of L_int \simeq 33 pb^(-1) taken in the years 1995-1997 with the H1 detector at HERA at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s)=300 GeV. Dijet and inclusive jet cross sections are measured multi-differentially using k_perp and angular ordered jet algorithms. The results are compared to the predictions of perturbative QCD calculations in next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant alphas.QCD fits are performed in which alphas and the gluon density in the proton are determined separately. The gluon density is found to be in good agreement with results obtained in other analyses using data from different processes. The strong coupling constant is determined to be alphas(MZ)=0.1186+-0.0059. In addition an analysis of the data in which both alphas and the gluon density are determined simultaneously is presented.

The leptoproduction of J/psi mesons is studied in inelastic reactions for four momentum transfers 2<Q^2<100GeV^2. The data were taken with the H1 detector at the electron proton collider HERA and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 77 pb-1. Single differential and double differential cross sections are measured with increased precision compared with previous analyses. New leading order calculations within the non-relativistic QCD factorisation approach including colour octet and colour singlet contributions are compared with the data and are found to give a reasonable description of most distributions. An exception is the shape of the distribution in the J/psi fractional energy, z, which deviates significantly from that of the data. Comparisons with photoproduction are made and the polarisation of the produced J/psi meson is analysed.

Deep-inelastic ep scattering data taken with the H1 detector at HERA and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 106 pb^{-1} are used to study the differential distributions of event shape variables. These include thrust, jet broadening, jet mass and the C-parameter. The four-momentum transfer Q is taken to be the relevant energy scale and ranges between 14 GeV and 200 GeV. The event shape distributions are compared with perturbative QCD predictions, which include resummed contributions and analytical power law corrections, the latter accounting for non-perturbative hadronisation effects. The data clearly exhibit the running of the strong coupling alpha_s(Q) and are consistent with a universal power correction parameter alpha_0 for all event shape variables. A combined QCD fit using all event shape variables yields alpha_s(mZ) = 0.1198 \pm 0.0013 ^{+0.0056}_{-0.0043} and alpha_0 = 0.476 \pm 0.008 ^{+0.018} _{-0.059}.

Three- and four-jet production is measured in deep-inelastic $ep$ scattering at low $x$ and $Q^2$ with the H1 detector using an integrated luminosity of $44{.}2 {\rm pb}^{-1}$. Several phase space regions are selected for the three-jet analysis in order to study the underlying parton dynamics from global topologies to the more restrictive regions of forward jets close to the proton direction. The measurements of cross sections for events with at least three jets are compared to fixed order QCD predictions of ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^2)$ and ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^3) $ and with Monte Carlo simulation programs where higher order effects are approximated by parton showers. A good overall description is provided by the ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^3) $ calculation. Too few events are predicted at the lowest $x \sim 10^{-4}$, especially for topologies with two forward jets. This hints to large contributions at low $x$ from initial state radiation of gluons close to the proton direction and unordered in transverse momentum. The Monte Carlo program in which gluon radiation is generated by the colour dipole model gives a good description of both the three- and the four-jet data in absolute normalisation and shape.