Analytic Expression for the Joint x and Q^2 Dependences of the Structure Functions of Deep Inelastic Scattering

Abstract

We obtain a good analytic fit to the joint Bjorken-x and Q^2 dependences of ZEUS data on the deep inelastic structure function F_2(x, Q^2). At fixed virtuality Q^2, as we showed previously, our expression is an expansion in powers of log (1/x) that satisfies the Froissart bound. Here we show that for each x, the Q^2 dependence of the data is well described by an expansion in powers of log Q^2. The resulting analytic expression allows us to predict the logarithmic derivatives {({\partial}^n F_2^p/{{(\partial\ln Q^2}})^n)}_x for n = 1,2 and to compare the results successfully with other data. We extrapolate the proton structure function F_2^p(x,Q^2) to the very large Q^2 and the very small x regions that are inaccessible to present day experiments and contrast our expectations with those of conventional global fits of parton distribution functions.