The proton and the photon, who is probing who?

Abstract

It is shown that by assuming Gribov factorization to hold at low $x$ one obtains a simple relation between the structure function of the proton and that of the photon. By interpreting an observed structure in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) of leptons on protons as belonging to the proton, one can relate it to the structure of the exchanged photon, and visa versa. Predictions are given for the structure function of real and virtual photons at low $x$ by using data on the proton structure function together with the Gribov factorization relations.