Inclusive Diffraction at HERA

Abstract

The diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, gamma*p -> Xp, has been studied in ep interactions at HERA with the H1 and ZEUS detectors. The data are presented in terms of the diffractive structure function F2D and of the diffractive cross sections dsigma/dt and dsigma/dMX. The t-dependence of the cross section is measured. The Pomeron intercepts extracted from diffractive and inclusive ep interactions are compared. The result is further interpreted studying the dependence of the ratio between the diffractive to the inclusive cross section on the photon-proton center of mass energy. Recent data on the Q2 dependence of the diffractive cross section at 0.17 < Q2 < 0.70 GeV2 constrain the transition in diffraction from the perturbative high Q2 region to the photoproduction limit.