HERA results on the structure of the proton

Abstract

A selection of results from the H1 and ZEUS experiments at HERA are reviewed, particularly in the area of deep inelastic scattering and diffraction. Quantum chromodynamics gives a good explanation of these data down to surprisingly low values of the four-momentum transfer, $Q^2$. Data at smaller $Q^2$ can be described by Regge models as well as by dipole models including parton-saturation effects. The latter can also give a unified description of many features of diffractive data.