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# Pseudo-Hermiticity versus 𝑃𝑇 Symmetry III: Equivalence of pseudo-Hermiticity and the presence of antilinear symmetries

## I. Introduction

The main reason for the recent interest in $`PT`$-symmetry  is that the eigenvalues of every $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonian are real or come in complex conjugate pairs. In particular, if the $`PT`$-symmetry is exact, the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is real. In Ref. , we introduced the concept of a pseudo-Hermitian operator and showed that the remarkable spectral properties of the $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonians follow from their pseudo-Hermiticity. Under the assumption of the diagonalizability (equivalently the existence of a complete biorthonormal set of energy eigenvectors), we obtained in Ref.  a complete characterization of all the (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonian that have a real spectrum. Here we also pointed out that the spectral properties of the $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonians are common to all Hamiltonians possessing an antilinear symmetry (a symmetry generated by an invertible antilinear operator.) Therefore, at least for the class of diagonalizable Hamiltonians presence of an antilinear symmetry implies pseudo-Hermiticity of the Hamiltonian. The primary purpose of the present article is to show that the converse of this statement holds as well. That is pseudo-Hermiticity of a Hamiltonian implies the existence of an antilinear symmetry. A direct consequence of this result is that if the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is real, then the system has an antilinear symmetry, $`PT`$-symmetry being the prime example.

The organization of the article is as follows. Section II includes a brief review of the necessary results reported in the companion articles . Section III examines anti-pseudo-Hermiticity (pseudo-Hermiticity with an antilinear automorphism.) Here we prove that every (non-Hermitian) diagonalizable Hamiltonian is anti-pseudo-Hermitian and that the pseudo-Hermiticity of the Hamiltonian implies the presence of an antilinear symmetry. Section IV offers a description of the Hamiltonians with a real spectrum in terms of certain associated Hermitian operators. Section V presents a summary of the main results and the concluding remarks.

Throughout this paper we shall consider (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonians $`H`$ that are diagonalizable and have a discrete spectrum. As we explain below, this means that these Hamiltonians admit a complete biorthonormal set of eigenvectors $`\{(|\psi _n,a,|\varphi _n,a)\}`$. The latter satisfy the following defining relations :

$`H|\psi _n,a=E_n|\psi _n,a,H^{}|\varphi _n,a=E_n^{}|\varphi _n,a,`$ (1)
$`\varphi _m,b|\psi _n,a=\delta _{mn}\delta _{ab},`$ (2)
$`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}|\psi _n,a\varphi _n,a|=1,`$ (3)
where $`n`$ and $`a`$ are respectively the spectral and degeneracy labels, $`d_n`$ is the multiplicity (degree of degeneracy) of $`E_n`$, $``$ and $``$ respectively denote the adjoint and complex-conjugate, $`\delta _{mn}`$ stands for the Kronecker delta function, and $`1`$ is the identity operator. In view of Equations (1) – (3), we also have

$$H=\underset{n}{}\underset{a=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}E_n|\psi _n,a\varphi _n,a|,H^{}=\underset{n}{}\underset{a=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}E_n^{}|\varphi _n,a\psi _n,a|.$$
(4)
In order to see the equivalence of the existence of a complete biorthonormal set of eigenvectors of $`H`$ and its diagonalizability, we note that by definition a diagonalizable Hamiltonian $`H`$ satisfies $`A^1HA=H_0`$ for an invertible linear operator $`A`$ and a diagonal linear operator $`H_0`$, i.e., there is an orthonormal basis $`\{|n,\alpha \}`$ in the Hilbert space and complex numbers $`E_n`$ such that $`H_0=_n_\alpha E_n|n,\alpha n,\alpha |`$. Then letting $`|\psi _n,\alpha :=A|n,\alpha `$ and $`|\varphi _n,\alpha :=(A^1)^{}|n,\alpha `$, we can easily check that $`\{|\psi _n,\alpha ,|\psi _n,\alpha \}`$ is a complete biorthonormal system for $`H`$. The converse is also true, for if such a system exists we may set $`A:=_n_\alpha |\psi _n,\alpha n,\alpha |`$ for some orthonormal basis $`\{|n,\alpha \}`$ and check that $`A^1=_n_\alpha |n,\alpha \varphi _n,\alpha |`$ and $`A^1HA=H_0`$, i.e., $`H`$ is diagonalizable.

We would like to emphasize that the diagonalizability condition may be viewed as a physical requirement without which an energy eigenbasis would not exist. To our knowledge all known non-Hermitian Hamiltonians that are used in physical applications are diagonalizable and therefore admit a complete biorthonormal set of eigenvectors. This in particular includes all the Hermitian Hamiltonians as well as the non-Hermitian Hamiltonians used in ionization optics , the study of dissipative systems and resonant states , two-component formulation of the minisuperspace quantum cosmology , and also the $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonians whose spectral properties have been obtained using numerical methods.

## II. Pseudo-Hermiticity

Let $`H:`$ be a linear operator acting in a Hilbert space $``$ and $`\eta :`$ be a linear Hermitian automorphism (invertible transformation). Then the $`\eta `$-pseudo-Hermitian adjoint of $`H`$ is defined by

$$H^{\mathrm{}}:=\eta ^1H^{}\eta .$$
(5)
$`H`$ is said to be pseudo-Hermitian with respect to $`\eta `$ or simply $`\eta `$-pseudo-Hermitian if $`H^{\mathrm{}}=H`$. $`H`$ is said to be pseudo-Hermitian if it is pseudo-Hermitian with respect to some linear Hermitian automorphism $`\eta `$.

The basic properties of pseudo-Hermitian operators are discussed in Refs. . Here we survey the properties that we shall make use of in this article. Let $`H:`$ be a diagonalizable linear operator. Then

* $`H`$ is pseudo-Hermitian if and only if its eigenvalues are real or come in complex-conjugate pairs, ;
* if $`H`$ is pseudo-Hermitian with respect to two linear Hermitian automorphisms $`\eta _1`$ and $`\eta _2`$, then $`\eta _1^1\eta _2`$ generates a symmetry of $`H`$, i.e., $`[H,\eta _1^1\eta _2]=0`$, .

## III. Anti-Pseudo-Hermiticity

We first recall that a function $`\tau :`$ acting in a (complex) Hilbert space $``$ is said to be an antilinear operator if for all $`a,b`$ and $`|\xi ,|\zeta `$,

$$\tau (a|\xi +b|\zeta )=a^{}\tau |\xi +b^{}\tau |\zeta .$$
(6)
An antilinear operator $`\tau :`$ is said to be anti-Hermitian  if for all $`|\xi ,|\zeta `$,

$$\zeta |\tau |\xi =\xi |\tau |\zeta .$$
(7)
* Definition 1: A linear operator $`H:`$ acting in a Hilbert space $``$ is said to be anti-pseudo-Hermitian if there is an antilinear anti-Hermitian automorphism $`\tau :`$ satisfying

$$H^{}=\tau H\tau ^1.$$
(8)

We begin our analysis by giving a characterization of antilinear anti-Hermitian operators with respect to which a given linear operator is anti-pseudo-Hermitian.

* Theorem 1: Let $``$ be a Hilbert space and $`H:`$ be a diagonalizable linear operator with a discrete spectrum and a complete biorthonormal set of eigenvectors $`\{(|\psi _n,a,|\varphi _n,a)\}`$. Then $`\tau :`$ is an antilinear anti-Hermitian operator and $`H`$ is $`\tau `$-anti-pseudo-Hermitian if and only if there are symmetric invertible matrices $`c^{(n)}`$ with entries $`c_{ab}^{(n)}`$ such that for all $`|\zeta `$,

$$\tau |\zeta =\underset{n}{}\underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}c_{ab}^{(n)}\zeta |\varphi _n,a|\varphi _n,b.$$
(9)
* Proof: Suppose that $`\tau :`$ is a given antilinear anti-Hermitian operator and $`H`$ is $`\tau `$-anti-pseudo-Hermitian, i.e., (8) or equivalently

$$H^{}\tau =\tau H$$
(10)
holds. Letting both sides of (10) act on $`|\psi _n,a`$ and using (1) and (6), we have

$$H^{}(\tau |\psi _n,a)=E_n^{}(\tau |\psi _n,a).$$

Comparing this equation with the second equation in (1), we find

$$\tau |\psi _n,a=\underset{b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}c_{ba}^{(n)}|\varphi _n,b,$$
(11)
where $`c_{ab}^{(n)}`$ are defined by

$$c_{ab}^{(n)}:=\psi _{n,a}|\tau |\psi _n,a.$$
(12)
We can also express (11) in the form

$$\psi _m,b|\tau |\psi _n,a=\delta _{mn}c_{ba}^{(n)}$$
(13)
Next note that because $`\tau `$ is an invertible operator, the matrix $`c^{(n)}=(c_{ab}^{(n)})`$ formed by $`c_{ab}^{(n)}`$ is nonsingular. In fact, applying $`\varphi _{n,c}|\tau ^1`$ to both sides of (11) and using (6) and the fact that $`\tau ^1`$ is also antilinear, we have

$$(c_{}^{(n)}{}_{}{}^{1})_{ab}=\varphi _n,a|\tau ^1|\varphi _n,b^{}.$$
(14)
Furthermore, in view of (12) and (7), $`c^{(n)}`$ is a symmetric matrix. Now let $`|\zeta `$ be an arbitrary element of $``$ and use (13), (3) and (7) to compute

$`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}c_{ab}^{(n)}\zeta |\varphi _n,a|\varphi _n,b`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n,m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}|\varphi _m,b\zeta |\varphi _n,a\psi _n,a|\tau |\psi _m,b`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{b}{}}|\varphi _m,b\zeta |\tau |\psi _m,b`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{m}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{b}{}}|\varphi _m,b\psi _m,b|\tau |\zeta `$
$`=`$ $`\tau |\zeta .`$
This establishes (9). Next, suppose that $`c^{(n)}`$ are given invertible symmetric matrices and $`\tau `$ is defined by (9). Then the antilinearity of $`\tau `$ follows from the antilinearity of the inner-product in its first entry. The following simple calculation shows that $`\tau `$ is anti-Hermitian. For all $`|\xi ,|\zeta `$,

$`\xi |\tau |\zeta `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}c_{ab}^{(n)}\zeta |\varphi _n,a\xi |\varphi _n,b`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}c_{ab}^{(n)}\zeta |\varphi _n,b\xi |\varphi _n,a`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}c_{ab}^{(n)}\xi |\varphi _n,a\zeta |\varphi _n,b`$
$`=`$ $`\zeta |\tau |\xi ,`$
where we used (9) and the fact that $`c^{(n)}`$ are symmetric. In order to establish the $`\tau `$-anti-pseudo-Hermiticity of $`H`$ we first observe that (9) implies

$$\tau ^1|\zeta =\underset{n}{}\underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}(c^{(n)})_{ab}^1\zeta |\psi _n,a|\psi _n,b.$$
(15)
This can be easily checked by applying $`\tau `$ to the right-hand side of (15) and using (9), (2), and (3) to show that the result is $`|\zeta `$. Next, we note that applying both sides of (9) to $`|\psi _n,a`$ we recover (11). Finally, we use (9), (15), (6), (1), (4), and (11) to compute, for all $`|\zeta `$,

$`\tau H\tau ^1|\zeta `$ $`=`$ $`\tau {\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}c_{}^{(n)}{}_{ab}{}^{1}\zeta |\psi _n,aE_n|\psi _n,b`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}E_n^{}c_{}^{(n)}{}_{ab}{}^{1}\zeta |\psi _n,a^{}\tau |\psi _n,b`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{a,b,c=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}E_n^{}\psi _n,a|\zeta c_{ca}^{(n)}c_{}^{(n)}{}_{ab}{}^{1}|\varphi _n,c`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{n}{}}{\displaystyle \underset{b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}}E_n^{}|\varphi _n,b\psi _n,b|\zeta `$
$`=`$ $`H^{}|\zeta .`$
Therefore, $`\tau H\tau ^1=H^{}`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

We should emphasize that unlike the case of pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians, the anti-pseudo-Hermiticity does not restrict the energy spectrum. In fact, we can use Theorem 1 to prove the following.

* Corollary 1: Every diagonalazable linear operator $`H:`$ with a discrete spectrum is anti-pseudo-Hermitian.
* Proof: Let $`\{(|\psi _n,a,|\varphi _n,a)\}`$ be a complete biorthonormal set of eigenvectors, and $`\tau :`$ be defined by (9) with $`c^{(n)}=1`$ for all $`n`$, i.e., for all $`|\zeta `$,

$$\tau |\zeta :=\underset{n}{}\underset{a=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}\zeta |\varphi _n,a|\varphi _n,a.$$
(16)
Then according to Theorem 1, $`\tau `$ is an antilinear anti-Hermitian operator and $`H`$ is $`\tau `$-anti-pseudo-Hermitian. $`\mathrm{}`$
* Corollary 2: Every diagonalizable pseudo-Hermitian linear operator $`H:`$ with a discrete spectrum has an antilinear symmetry.
* Proof: Let $`H`$ be pseudo-Hermitian. Then according to Corollary 1 it is also anti-pseudo-Hermitian, i.e., there are a linear Hermitian automorphism $`\eta :`$ and an antilinear anti-Hermitian automorphism $`\tau :`$ such that

$$\eta H\eta ^1=H^{}=\tau H\tau ^1.$$
(17)
Hence, $`[H,\eta ^1\tau ]=0`$. Clearly $`\eta ^1\tau `$ is an antilinear operator. $`\mathrm{}`$
* Theorem 2: Let $`H:`$ be a diagonalizable linear operator acting in a Hilbert space $``$ with a discrete spectrum. Then the following are equivalent.

1. The eigenvalues of $`H`$ are real or come in complex-conjugate pairs.
    2. $`H`$ is pseudo-Hermitian.
    3. $`H`$ has an antilinear symmetry.
* Proof: The equivalence of 1. and 2. was established in Ref. ; Corollary 2 shows that 2. implies 3.; the fact that 3. implies 1. follows from a simple calculation given in Ref. . $`\mathrm{}`$

A class of $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonians are given by

$$H=\frac{p^2}{2m}+V_1(x)+iV_2(x),$$
(18)
where $`V_1`$ and $`V_2`$ are respectively even and odd real-valued functions and the classical phase space is assumed to be real, i.e., $`x`$ and $`p`$ are the standard Hermitian operators representing the position and momentum of a particle of mass $`m`$. As we point out in , the Hamiltonian (18) is $`P`$-pseudo-Hermitian. It is also easy to check that it is $`T`$-anti-pseudo-Hermitian. The $`P`$-pseudo-Hermiticity and $`T`$-anti-pseudo-Hermiticity of this Hamiltonian implies its $`P^1T=PT`$ symmetry. In general, there are $`PT`$-symmetric Hamiltonians $`H`$ that are neither $`P`$-pseudo-Hermitian nor $`T`$-anti-pseudo-Hermitian. According to Theorem 2, if we make the physical assumption that $`H`$ is diagonalizable, so that it admits a complete biorthonormal set of energy eigenvectors, then $`H`$ must be pseudo-Hermitian with respect to a linear Hermitian automorphism $`\eta `$. It turns out that the choice of $`\eta `$ is not unique. But fixing an antilinear anti-Hermitian operator $`\tau `$ with respect to which $`H`$ is anti-pseudo-Hermitian (namely (9)), we can express $`\eta `$ in terms of $`PT`$ and $`\tau `$ according to

$$\eta =\tau PT.$$
(19)
One can easily check that $`PT`$ symmetry ($`[PT,H]=0`$) and anti-pseudo-Hermiticity (8) imply pseudo-Hermiticity of $`H`$ with respect to (19).

Next we consider a general diagonalizable Hamiltonian $`H`$ with a discrete spectrum and a symmetry generated by a general antilinear operator $`X`$,

$$[H,X]=0.$$
(20)
The antilinearity of $`X`$ implies $`\eta `$-pseudo-Hermiticity of $`H`$ with respect to some linear Hermitian automorphism $`\eta `$. The anti-pseudo-Hermiticity of $`H`$ with respect to an antilinear automorphism of the form (9) always holds. Hence Eqs. (17) are valid. Taking the adjoint of both sides of (20) and making use of (17), we can easily show that $`X_\eta ^{\mathrm{}}:=\eta ^1X\eta `$ and $`X_\tau ^{\mathrm{}}:=\tau ^1X\tau `$ commute with $`H`$, i.e., they generate antilinear symmetries of the system as well.

## IV. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with a Real Spectrum

We first recall the following results which we reported in .

* The (indefinite) inner-product defined by

$$|\xi ,|\zeta ,\xi |\zeta :=\xi |\eta |\zeta ,$$
(21)
is invariant under the evolution generated by an $`\eta `$-pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian $`H`$, . It is also easy to check that such a Hamiltonian is Hermitian with respect to the (indefinite) inner-product (21). See also .
* A diagonalizable (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonian has a real spectrum if and only if it is pseudo-Hermitian with respect to a linear Hermitian automorphism of the form

$$\eta =OO^{},$$
(22)
where $`O:`$ is a linear automorphism, .

These statements suggest the following characterization of the (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonians with a real spectrum. See also .

* Theorem 3: A diagonalizable Hamiltonian $`H`$ acting in a Hilbert space $``$ has a real spectrum if and only if there is a positive-definite inner product on $``$ with respect to which $`H`$ is Hermitian.
* Proof: Suppose $`H`$ has a real spectrum so that it is $`OO^{}`$-pseudo-Hermitian for a linear automorphism $`O:`$. Then the inner-product (21) with $`\eta =OO^{}`$ is clearly a positive-definite inner-product with respect to which $`H`$ is Hermitian. Conversely, suppose that there is a positive-definite inner-product $`(,)`$ with respect to which $`H`$ is Hermitian. Then treating the spectral problem for $`H`$ in the Hilbert space $``$ with the inner-product $`(,)`$, we find that $`H`$ has a real spectrum.
* Corollary: Suppose that $`H`$ has an antilinear symmetry $`X`$. If $`X`$ is an exact symmetry of $`H`$, then there is a positive-definite inner product on $``$ with respect to which $`H`$ is Hermitian. $`\mathrm{}`$
* Proof. Exactness of an antilinear symmetry implies reality of the spectrum of $`H`$, . The conclusion then follows from Theorem 3. $`\mathrm{}`$

Next we give an alternative and in a sense equivalent characterization of the (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonians with a real spectrum.

* Definition 2: Consider a quantum system with the Hilbert space $``$ and the Hamiltonian $`H:`$. Then a linear automorphism $`A:`$ is said to be a pseudo-canonical transformation for the system if for all $`|\zeta `$ the transformation

$$|\zeta |\stackrel{~}{\zeta }:=A|\zeta $$
(23)
leaves the Schrödinger equation,

$$i\frac{d}{dt}|\psi (t)=H|\psi (t),$$
(24)
form-invariant. A unitary pseudo-canonical transformation is called a (quantum) canonical transformation .

Clearly the defining condition for a pseudo-canonical transformation implies the following transformation rule for the Hamiltonian.

$$H\stackrel{~}{H}:=AHA^1+i\dot{A}A^1,$$
(25)
where a dot denotes a time-derivative. For a time-independent pseudo-canonical transformation $`A`$, the second term on the right-hand side of (25) drops and $`H`$ transforms as

$$H\stackrel{~}{H}:=AHA^1.$$
(26)
* Theorem 4: A diagonalizable Hamiltonian $`H`$ has a real spectrum if and only if there is a pseudo-canonical transformation that maps $`H`$ into a Hermitian operator.
* Proof: Suppose that $`H`$ has a real spectrum. Then it is $`OO^{}`$-pseudo-Hermitian for a linear automorphism $`O:`$, i.e., $`H^{}=OO^{}H(OO^{})^1`$. Let $`A:=O^{}`$, then in view of (26) and the preceding equation, we have

$$\stackrel{~}{H}^{}=(AHA^1)^{}=(A^1)^{}H^{}A^{}=(A^1)^{}A^{}AHA^1(A^{})^1A^{}=AHA^1=\stackrel{~}{H}.$$

Hence the transformed Hamiltonian is Hermitian. Conversely suppose that there is a pseudo-canonical transformation $`A:`$ under which $`H`$ transforms to a Hermitian Hamiltonian $`\stackrel{~}{H}`$ and let $`O:=A^{}`$. Then using (26) and $`\stackrel{~}{H}^{}=\stackrel{~}{H}`$, we have

$$OO^{}H(OO^{})^1=A^{}AA^1\stackrel{~}{H}A(A^{}A)^1=A^{}\stackrel{~}{H}^{}(A^{})^1=(A^1\stackrel{~}{H}A)^{}=H^{}.$$

Therefore, $`H`$ is $`OO^{}`$-pseudo-Hermitian, and its spectrum is real. $`\mathrm{}`$
* Corollary: Suppose that $`H`$ has an antilinear symmetry $`X`$. If $`X`$ is an exact symmetry of $`H`$, then there is a pseudo-canonical transformation that maps $`H`$ into a Hermitian operator.
* Proof. Exactness of an antilinear symmetry implies reality of the spectrum of $`H`$, . The conclusion then follows from Theorem 4. $`\mathrm{}`$

## V. Discussion and Conclusion

In this article we established the equivalence of the notion of pseudo-Hermiticity and presence of an antilinear symmetry for the class of diagonalizable (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonians. This required the study of pseudo-Hermiticity with respect to antilinear anti-Hermitian automorphisms. It turned that the latter does not restrict the choice of the Hamiltonian and such antilinear automorphisms always exist. In fact, we obtained the general form of these automorphisms. For a fixed complete biorthonormal eigenbasis, they are determined in terms of a sequence of complex symmetric matrices $`c^{(n)}`$. The choice of unity for all these matrices leads to a canonical antilinear anti-Hermitian automorphism, namely (16). Under an invertible transformation $`u`$ of the basis,

$$|\psi _n,a\underset{b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}u_{ba}|\psi _n,b,|\varphi _n,a\underset{b=1}{\overset{d_n}{}}(u^1)_{ba}|\varphi _n,b,$$

that preserves its completeness and biorthonormality, the matrices $`c^{(n)}`$ transform according to

$$c^{(n)}u^tc^{(n)}u^{}=u^{}c^{(n)}u^t,$$

where <sup>t</sup> denotes the transpose. We can transform to a basis where a general $`\tau `$ has the canonical form (16) if we can find invertible matrices $`v=u^1`$ satisfying $`c^{(n)}=vv^t`$. As shown in  this is always possible. Therefore, up to the choice of the biorthonormal eigenbasis, $`\tau `$ is actually unique.

A simple consequence of our findings is that the reality of the spectrum of a Hamiltonian implies the presence of an antilinear symmetry. In view of the proof of Corollary 2 and Eq. (9) of this article and Eq. (23) of , we have in fact an explicit expression for the generator of such a symmetry in terms of the biorthonormal eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian. We also gave two characterizations of Hamiltonians with real spectrum. These characterizations show how a Hamiltonian with a real spectrum may be related to an associated Hermitian Hamiltonian. Another simple implication of our analysis is that every Hermitian Hamiltonian has an antilinear symmetry.

## Acknowledgment

This project was supported by the Young Researcher Award Program (GEBIP) of the Turkish Academy of Sciences.


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# Measurement of the 𝑄² and energy dependence of diffractive interactions at HERA

## 1 Introduction

The properties of high-energy hadron-hadron cross sections, notably the energy dependence of the total and elastic cross sections, are described successfully by Regge phenomenology in terms of the exchange of the Pomeron trajectory, $`\alpha _{IP}(t)=\alpha _{IP}(0)+\alpha _{IP}^{}t`$, where $`t`$ is the squared four-momentum carried by the exchange . The intercept and slope of the trajectory were found to be $`\alpha _{IP}(0)=1.08`$ and $`\alpha _{IP}^{}=0.25`$ GeV-2, respectively, by Donnachie and Landshoff  using the energy dependence of the hadron-hadron total and elastic cross sections. Such a Pomeron trajectory is referred to as “the soft Pomeron”. At high energies, hadron-hadron total cross sections, including the $`\gamma p`$ total cross section, can be expressed in terms of this trajectory as

$$\sigma (W^2)^{\alpha _{IP}(0)1},$$

where $`W`$ is the virtual photon-proton centre-of-mass energy.

Measurements of the diffractive dissociation of photons have shown that, for quasi-real photons ($`Q^20`$, photoproduction, where $`Q^2`$ is the exchanged photon virtuality), the value of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$ is compatible with the expectations based on soft-Pomeron exchange . The study of diffractive processes in $`ep`$ collisions at large virtualities has opened up the possibility of investigating the Pomeron in a regime where perturbative QCD (pQCD) is applicable . In this regime, the exchange of the Pomeron trajectory may be described, at lowest order, as two-gluon exchange in the $`t`$ channel so that the cross section is proportional to the square of the gluon density in the proton. Since the gluon distribution rises steeply at small Bjorken $`x`$ (or, equivalently, for large values of $`W`$), a possible signature of the transition from the soft non-perturbative regime to the hard perturbative regime is a change to a $`W`$-dependence of the cross section steeper than that from the exchange of a soft-Pomeron trajectory. The value of the Pomeron intercept, $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$, measured in the deep inelastic scattering (DIS) regime ($`Q^2>`$ a few GeV2) is larger than that of the soft Pomeron , which suggests that pQCD effects have become important.

In analogy with the usual DIS formalism for the proton structure function, $`F_2`$, one can introduce a diffractive structure function, $`F_2^D`$. Studies of photon diffractive-dissociation have shown that, for $`Q^2>1`$ GeV2, $`F_2^D`$ has only a weak, logarithmic, dependence on $`Q^2`$ . However, conservation of the electromagnetic current requires that both $`F_2^D`$ and $`F_2`$ must behave like $`Q^2`$ as $`Q^20`$.

In this paper, the inclusive diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$, is investigated by studying the reaction $`epeXp`$ at HERA both in the perturbative region ($`Q^21`$ GeV2) and in the transition region between the non-perturbative ($`Q^20`$) and perturbative regions. The measurements are presented as a function of $`W`$ and $`Q^2`$. The Pomeron intercept is determined through the measurement of the energy dependence of the diffractive cross section in the transition region, which has not previously been explored in diffraction. The $`W`$ and $`Q^2`$ behaviour of the diffractive cross section and of the virtual photon-proton total cross section, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$, are compared by studying their ratio as a function of $`W`$ and $`Q^2`$.

Diffractive events were selected by two methods. The first required the detection of the scattered proton in the ZEUS leading proton spectrometer (LPS) and is referred to as the “LPS method”. Although statistically limited because of the small acceptance of the LPS, this method permits the selection of events with negligible background from the double-dissociative reaction, $`epeXN`$, where the proton also diffractively dissociates into a state $`N`$ of mass $`M_N`$ that escapes undetected in the beam pipe. The LPS method also gives access to higher values of $`M_X`$, the mass of the hadronic final-state system, $`X`$, and allows the measurement of the squared four-momentum transfer at the proton vertex, $`t`$. The second method, henceforth referred to as the “$`M_X^2`$ method” , is based on the characteristics of the distribution of $`M_X`$. The sample selected with the $`M_X^2`$ method contains a background contribution from the double-dissociative events.

This paper presents results in the region $`0.17<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2, obtained with both methods, and in the region $`3<Q^2<80`$ GeV2 using only the LPS. The measurements cover the region $`3<M_X<38`$ GeV. Results in the DIS region obtained using the $`M_X^2`$ method have been previously reported .

## 2 Kinematic variables and cross sections

Inclusive diffractive dissociation of virtual photons in positron-proton collisions, $`epeXp`$, can be described by the kinematic variables $`Q^2`$, $`W`$, $`M_X`$, and $`t`$. The differential cross section for $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$ is related to the cross section for the reaction $`epeXp`$ by

$$\frac{d^4\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{ep}(Q^2,W,M_X,t)}{d\mathrm{ln}Q^2d\mathrm{ln}WdM_Xdt}=\mathrm{\Gamma }(Q^2,W)\frac{d^2\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}(Q^2,W,M_X,t)}{dM_Xdt},$$
(1)
where

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\frac{\alpha }{\pi }\left[1+(1y)^2\right]$$

is the virtual photon flux, $`\alpha `$ is the fine-structure constant, $`y(W^2+Q^2)/s`$ is the fraction of the positron energy transferred to the proton in its rest frame, and $`s`$ is the square of the positron-proton centre-of-mass energy.

In analogy with the formalism of inclusive deep inelastic $`ep`$ scattering, the diffractive cross section for the reaction $`epeXp`$ can also be expressed in terms of diffractive structure functions :

$$\frac{d^4\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\mathrm{ep}}}{d\beta dQ^2dx_{_{IP}}dt}=\frac{4\pi \alpha ^2}{\beta Q^4}\left\{1y+\frac{y^2}{2(1+R^{D(4)}(\beta ,Q^2,x_{_{IP}},t))}\right\}F_2^{D(4)}(\beta ,Q^2,x_{_{IP}},t),$$
(2)
where the diffractive structure function $`F_2^{D(4)}`$ and the ratio of the cross sections for longitudinal and transverse photons, $`R^{D(4)}`$, have been introduced.

The variables $`x_{_{IP}}`$ and $`\beta `$ are related to $`Q^2`$, $`W^2`$, $`M_X^2`$ and $`t`$ by

$`x_{_{IP}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{Q^2+M_X^2t}{Q^2+W^2M_p^2}},`$
$`\beta `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{Q^2}{Q^2+M_X^2t}},`$
where $`M_p`$ is the proton mass. The variables $`x_{_{IP}}`$ and $`\beta `$ can be interpreted, assuming the $`t`$-channel exchange of a Pomeron with partonic structure, as the fraction of the proton momentum carried by the Pomeron and the fraction of the Pomeron momentum carried by the struck parton, respectively.

Equations (1) and (2) can be combined to give

$$\frac{d^2\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}}{dM_Xdt}=\frac{W^2}{Q^2+W^2}\frac{2M_X}{Q^2+M_X^2}\frac{4\pi ^2\alpha }{Q^2}x_{IP}F_2^{D(4)},$$
(3)
where $`|t|Q^2+M_X^2`$ has been assumed and $`M_p`$ and $`R^{D(4)}`$ have been neglected . An analogous expression holds for the three-fold differential diffractive structure function, $`F_2^{D(3)}`$, obtained by integrating $`F_2^{D(4)}`$ over $`t`$. Equation (3) is the diffractive analogue of the expression $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}=(4\pi ^2\alpha /Q^2)F_2`$ which holds for inclusive $`\gamma ^{}p`$ scattering at high $`W`$.

## 3 Experimental set-up

The measurements were performed at the HERA $`ep`$ collider at DESY between 1995 and 1997 using the ZEUS detector. At that time, HERA operated at a proton energy of 820 GeV and a positron energy of 27.5 GeV.

A detailed description of the ZEUS detector can be found elsewhere . A brief outline of the components most relevant for this analysis is given below.

Charged particles are tracked by the central tracking detector (CTD) , which operates in a magnetic field of 1.43 T provided by a thin superconducting coil. The CTD consists of 72 cylindrical drift-chamber layers, organised in 9 superlayers covering the polar-angle111 The ZEUS coordinate system is a right-handed Cartesian system, with the $`Z`$ axis pointing in the proton-beam direction, referred to as the “forward direction”, and the $`X`$ axis pointing left towards the centre of HERA. The coordinate origin is at the nominal interaction point. The pseudorapidity is defined as $`\eta =\mathrm{ln}(\mathrm{tan}\frac{\theta }{2})`$, where the polar angle, $`\theta `$, is measured with respect to the proton-beam direction. region $`15^{}<\theta <164^{}`$. The relative transverse-momentum resolution for full-length tracks is $`\sigma (p_t)/p_t=0.0058p_t0.00650.0014/p_t`$, with $`p_t`$ in GeV.

The high-resolution uranium-scintillator calorimeter (CAL)  consists of three parts: the forward (FCAL), the barrel (BCAL) and the rear (RCAL) calorimeters. Each part is subdivided transversely into towers and longitudinally into one electromagnetic section (EMC) and either one (in RCAL) or two (in FCAL and BCAL) hadronic sections (HAC). The smallest subdivision of the calorimeter is called a cell. The CAL relative energy resolutions, as measured under test-beam conditions, are $`\sigma (E)/E=0.18/\sqrt{E}`$ for electrons and $`\sigma (E)/E=0.35/\sqrt{E}`$ for hadrons ($`E`$ in GeV).

Low-$`Q^2`$ events ($`0.17<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2) were tagged by requiring the identification of the scattered positron in the beam pipe calorimeter (BPC) . The BPC was a tungsten-scintillator sampling calorimeter, located close to the beam pipe, 3 m downstream of the interaction point in the positron-beam direction. The relative energy resolution from test-beam results was $`\sigma (E)/E=0.17/\sqrt{E}`$ ($`E`$ in GeV). Each scintillator layer consisted of 8 mm-wide strips. Using the logarithmically weighted shower position, the impact position of the scattered positron could be measured with an accuracy of about 1 mm. For events with $`Q^2>3`$ GeV2, the impact point of the scattered positron was determined with the small-angle rear tracking detector (SRTD)  or the CAL. The SRTD is attached to the front face of the RCAL and consists of two planes of scintillator strips, 1 cm wide and 0.5 cm thick, arranged in orthogonal orientations and read out via optical fibres and photomultiplier tubes. It covers a region of about $`68\times 68`$ cm2 in $`X`$ and $`Y`$, excluding a $`10\times 20`$ cm2 hole at the centre for the beam pipe.

The LPS  detected positively charged particles scattered at small angles and carrying a substantial fraction, $`x_L`$, of the incoming proton momentum; these particles remain in the beam pipe and their trajectory was measured by a system of silicon microstrip detectors that can be inserted very close (typically a few mm) to the proton beam. The detectors were grouped in six stations, S1 to S6, placed along the beam line in the direction of the proton beam, between $`23.8`$ m and 90.0 m from the interaction point. The track deflections induced by the magnets of the proton beam-line allow a momentum analysis of the scattered proton. For the present measurements, only stations S4, S5 and S6 were used. The resolutions were better than 1% on the longitudinal momentum and 5 MeV on the transverse momentum. The effective transverse-momentum resolution is, however, dominated by the intrinsic transverse-momentum spread of the proton beam at the interaction point, which is about 40 MeV in the horizontal plane and about 100 MeV in the vertical plane.

## 4 Reconstruction of the kinematic variables

Different methods have been used for the reconstruction of the kinematic variables $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$, depending on the $`Q^2`$ range of the measurement. At low $`Q^2`$, $`0.17<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2 (hereafter referred to as the “BPC region”), the energy, $`E_e^{}`$, and angle, $`\theta _e`$, of the scattered positron measured in the BPC were used (“electron method”) to determine the kinematic variables from

$`Q^2`$ $`=`$ $`2E_eE_e^{}(1+\mathrm{cos}\theta _e),`$
$`W`$ $`=`$ $`\sqrt{4E_eE_p\left[1{\displaystyle \frac{E_e^{}}{2E_e}}(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _e)\right]},`$
where $`E_p`$ and $`E_e`$ represent the proton and positron beam energies, respectively. For $`Q^2>3`$ GeV2 (the “DIS region”), $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$ were reconstructed with the double angle method  using the energy depositions in the CAL.

For the reconstruction of the mass of the diffractive system $`X`$, the energy deposits in the CAL and the track momenta measured in the CTD were clustered to form energy-flow objects (EFOs) . The EFOs thus include the information from both neutral and charged particles in an optimal way. The mass, $`M_X`$, was then obtained from the EFOs via

$$M_X=\sqrt{\left(\underset{i}{}E_i\right)^2\left(\underset{i}{}p_{Xi}\right)^2\left(\underset{i}{}p_{Yi}\right)^2\left(\underset{i}{}p_{Zi}\right)^2},$$

where the subscript $`i`$ denotes an individual EFO; the EFOs associated with the scattered positron are excluded from the sums.

The momentum of those scattered protons detected in the LPS, $`p^{\mathrm{LPS}}`$, was measured, along with its component perpendicular (parallel) to the beam direction, $`p_T^{\mathrm{LPS}}`$ ($`p_Z^{\mathrm{LPS}}`$). From these quantities, the fractional momentum of the scattered proton, $`x_L`$, and $`t`$ were determined via

$`x_L`$ $`=`$ $`p_Z^{\mathrm{LPS}}/E_p,`$
$`t`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{(p_T^{\mathrm{LPS}})^2}{x_L}}.`$
Two quantities, $`y`$ and $`\delta _i(Ep_Z)_i+E_e^{}(1\mathrm{cos}\theta _e)`$, the sum of $`EP_Z`$ over all final-state particles in the event, were used in the event selection. The former was reconstructed either using the electron method (and denoted by $`y_e`$) or from the EFOs using the Jacquet-Blondel estimator  as

$$y_{JB}=\frac{_i(Ep_Z)_i}{2E_e},$$

where the sum is over all EFOs, excluding those assigned to the scattered positron. Energy and momentum conservation require $`\delta `$ to be twice the positron beam energy for a completely measured final state and neglecting resolution effects.

## 5 Monte Carlo simulation

Monte Carlo (MC) generators were used to determine the acceptance of the apparatus. The reaction $`epeXp`$ was simulated in the BPC region with the EPSOFT2.0  MC generator interfaced to HERACLES4.6 , which simulates initial- and final-state QED radiation. For the description of the diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$, EPSOFT uses the triple-Regge formalism , in which the inclusive diffractive cross section can be expressed in terms of three trajectories. If all the trajectories are Pomerons ($`IPIPIP`$), the cross-section $`d\sigma /dM_X^2`$ is approximately proportional to $`1/M_X^2`$. If one of the trajectories is a Reggeon ($`IPIPIR`$), the cross-section $`d\sigma /dM_X^2`$ falls as $`1/M_X^3`$. EPSOFT also simulates exclusive vector-meson production, $`epeVp`$, where $`V=\rho ^0`$, $`\omega `$ or $`\varphi `$, and non-diffractive $`ep`$ interactions, $`epeY`$. Production of $`J/\psi `$ mesons has negligible effects on the acceptance and was not considered. EPSOFT was also used to simulate the double-dissociative reaction, $`epeXN`$, where the proton diffractively dissociates into the state $`N`$.

The second generator, used for the DIS region, was RAPGAP2.06 , where, for the diffractive structure function, a factorisable expression was assumed based on the model of Ingelman and Schlein . In particular, a superposition of non-interfering Pomeron and sub-leading trajectories was used (“fit B”, as determined by the H1 Collaboration ) together with the “fit 3” Pomeron parton density functions . Again, initial- and final-state QED radiation were simulated using HERACLES.

All generated events were passed through the standard ZEUS detector simulation, based on the GEANT3.13 program , and the trigger-simulation package.

## 6 Identification of the scattered positron

For the BPC sample, the events were selected in the trigger by requiring the presence of a scattered positron in the BPC. A positron with energy greater than 7 GeV was required in the offline analysis . The following cuts were applied to reduce the contamination from photoproduction events, radiative events, and beam-related background:

* $`y_{JB}>0.05`$;
* $`35<\delta <65`$ GeV;
* $`|Z_{\mathrm{VTX}}|<50`$ cm, where $`Z_{\mathrm{VTX}}`$ is the $`Z`$ coordinate of the reconstructed vertex.

For the DIS sample, the events used for the analysis were selected in the trigger by requiring the presence of a scattered positron in the CAL. Offline, a positron in the RCAL with energy greater than 10 GeV was required. A positron finder based on a neural-network was used . The following cuts were applied to reduce the contamination from photoproduction events, radiative events, and beam-related background:

* $`y_{JB}>0.03`$;
* $`y_e<0.95`$;
* $`35<\delta <65`$ GeV;
* $`50<Z_{\mathrm{VTX}}<100`$ cm.

## 7 The LPS method

Diffractive events are characterised by a final state proton scattered at very small angle and with energy nearly equal to that of the incoming proton. In the LPS method, diffractive events are then defined as those having a proton detected in the LPS with $`x_L1`$. Figure 1(a) shows the measured $`x_L`$ spectrum, uncorrected for acceptance. The diffractive peak is clearly visible for values of $`x_L`$ close to unity. For the present analysis, $`x_L>0.97`$ was required. Previous studies  indicate that the double-dissociative contribution to such events is negligible.

Two data samples, collected in 1995, were analysed with the LPS method. The BPC sample, corresponding to a luminosity of $`0.90\pm 0.01`$ pb-1, covers the range $`0.17<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2 and $`90<W<250`$ GeV. The DIS sample covers the region $`3<Q^2<80`$ GeV2 and $`80<W<250`$ GeV, and corresponds to a luminosity of $`3.30\pm 0.03`$ pb-1. The analysis was limited to the range $`3<M_X<38`$ GeV for the BPC sample and $`3<M_X<33`$ GeV for the DIS sample.

The candidate proton was tracked along the proton beam line and was rejected if, at any point, the reconstructed minimum distance of approach to the beam pipe, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{pipe}}`$, was less than $`400\mu `$m or if the distance to the edge of the sensitive region of any LPS station, $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{plane}}`$, was smaller than $`200\mu `$m. These cuts reduce the sensitivity of the acceptance to the uncertainty in the position of the beam-pipe apertures and of the detector edges. In addition, $`t`$ was required to be in the region $`0.073<|t|<0.4`$ GeV2, where the LPS acceptance is well understood . Beam-halo background results from a scattered proton, with energy close to that of the beam, originating from an interaction of a beam proton with the residual gas or with the beam collimators. In this case, the proton measured in the LPS is uncorrelated with the activity in the central ZEUS detector. This background was suppressed by the requirement that the sum of the energy and the longitudinal component of the total momentum measured in the CAL, the BPC and the LPS be less than the kinematic limit of $`2E_p`$: $`(E+p_Z)_{\mathrm{CAL}}+(E+p_Z)_{\mathrm{BPC}}+2p_Z^{\mathrm{LPS}}<1665`$ GeV. This cut takes into account the resolution of the measurement of $`p_Z^{\mathrm{LPS}}`$. A residual beam-halo background of approximately 8%, remaining after the cut, was subtracted statistically.

In the BPC analysis, the measured number of diffractive events was corrected bin-by-bin. From this acceptance-corrected number of events, the cross section for the diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$, was determined taking into account the integrated luminosity, bin widths, and bin-centring corrections.

In the DIS analysis, the cross section for the diffractive dissociation of virtual photons at a given point within a bin was obtained from the ratio of the measured number of diffractive events to the number of events in that bin predicted from the MC simulation, multiplied by the $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$ cross section calculated at that point by the Monte Carlo generator. Both the acceptance and the bin-centring corrections were thus taken from the MC simulation.

In both the BPC and DIS analyses, the diffractive cross-section $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ was directly measured only in the region $`0.073<|t|<0.4`$ GeV2 and extrapolated to the full $`t`$ range using the $`t`$ dependence assumed in the Monte Carlo generator. In the region covered by the present measurements, this is roughly equivalent to carrying out an integration over $`t`$ assuming an exponential dependence on $`t`$, $`e^{b|t|}`$, with $`b7.5`$ GeV-2.

## 8 The $`𝑴_𝑿^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ method

Diffractive photon dissociation, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$, is characterised by the exchange of a colourless object, the Pomeron, between the virtual photon and the proton. This suppresses QCD radiation, and hence the production of hadrons, in the rapidity region between the hadronic system $`X`$ and the scattered proton, yielding a forward rapidity gap, a characteristic feature of diffractive interactions. This feature is reflected in the dependence of the cross section on $`M_X`$, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X1/M_X^{2\alpha _{IP}(0)1}`$, i.e. approximately flat as a function of $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$. In contrast, for non-diffractive events, large rapidity gaps are exponentially suppressed by QCD radiation, which populates the region between the struck quark and the coloured proton remnant. In this case, under the assumption of uniform, random and uncorrelated particle emission in rapidity, the $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ distribution falls exponentially towards low $`M_X`$ values. The different properties of the $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ distribution for diffractive and non-diffractive events are exploited in the $`M_X^2`$ method .

The $`M_X^2`$ method was used to analyse BPC data taken in 1996-97, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $`6.2\pm 0.1`$ pb-1. The kinematic range used was $`0.22<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2, $`90<W<220`$ GeV and $`3.0<M_X<12.2`$ GeV.

### 8.1 Selection of the diffractive signal

Figure 1(b) shows a representative distribution of $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ for data222The data shown in Figs. 1(b,c) result from the cuts discussed in Section 8.2. in the bin $`0.220<Q^2<0.324`$ GeV2 and $`150<W<180`$ GeV, compared to the distribution of the simulated events generated with EPSOFT. Also shown are the four individual contributions generated with EPSOFT for non-diffractive events, for the $`IPIPIP`$ and $`IPIPIR`$ contributions (shown combined in the figure), which lead to the diffractive dissociation of the photon, and for vector-meson production. Diffractive events dominate the region of low $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$, while non-diffractive events exhibit a large peak at high $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ and a steep exponential fall-off towards lower $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ values. The relative weights of the four subprocesses are obtained from fits to the $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$ distribution of the data. The resulting sum of the MC events (open histogram) from the various subprocesses provides a reasonably good description of the data in the region of interest, $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2<8.5`$.

In the region $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^24`$, the diffractive contribution to the events in Fig. 1(b) depends only weakly on $`\mathrm{ln}M_X^2`$. The expression

$$\frac{dN}{d\mathrm{ln}M_X^2}=D+C\mathrm{exp}(B\mathrm{ln}M_X^2)$$
(4)
was therefore fitted to the data and the parameters $`D`$, $`C`$ and $`B`$ were determined for each ($`Q^2`$,$`W`$) region. The exponential term (with $`B=1.44\pm 0.02`$), ascribed to non-diffractive events, was subtracted statistically to obtain the diffractive contribution. The parameter $`D`$ was thus not used directly to determine the diffractive cross section. The exponential term resulting from the fit to the data of Fig. 1(b) is shown in Fig. 1(c).

The cross-section measurement was restricted to the range $`2.2<\mathrm{ln}M_X^2<5.0`$, corresponding to $`3.0<M_X<12.2`$ GeV. The lower limit on $`M_X`$ suppresses the contribution from diffractive vector-meson production, while the upper bound was chosen such that the non-diffractive contribution to the higher-$`M_X`$ bins was always less than 50%.

### 8.2 Proton-dissociative contribution

The diffractive sample of $`epeXp`$ events selected with the $`M_X^2`$ method as discussed in Section 8.1 contains a contribution from the double-dissociative reaction $`epeXN`$. The system $`N`$ escapes undetected through the forward beam pipe, unless the proton dissociates into a state of sufficiently high mass, in which case some of the particles from the system $`N`$ have transverse momenta large enough that they are detected in the FCAL region around the forward beam pipe. The contribution of the double-dissociative reaction $`epeXN`$ was simulated and studied with EPSOFT.

Energy deposits in the FCAL, arising from the proton-dissociative remnant, give rise to a measured value of $`M_X`$ considerably higher than the true value. In such events, there is a gap in rapidity between the FCAL deposits from the proton remnant at high $`\eta `$ and the system $`X`$ at lower $`\eta `$, and the invariant mass of the low-$`\eta `$ system is small with respect to the measured (apparent) $`M_X`$. Exploiting these features, events were rejected if they fulfilled all of the following three conditions:

* the maximum $`\eta `$ ($`\eta _{\mathrm{MAX}}`$) of the EFOs was greater than 2.5;
* the maximum rapidity gap between adjacent EFOs was greater than 3.5;
* the mass reconstructed from EFOs with $`\eta <2.5`$ was less than $`0.6M_X`$.

These cuts rejected approximately 10% of the data sample. The simulations using the EPSOFT MC program indicate that about 45% of these rejected events are from the double-dissociative reaction, $`\gamma ^{}pXN`$, and the events that survive the cuts consist of photon-dissociative events as well as events from the double-dissociative reaction with $`M_N<6`$ GeV.

The measured number of events in each $`(Q^2,W,M_X)`$ bin was corrected for acceptance to determine the number of produced events by means of the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) method , which allows the evaluation of error correlations between adjacent bins. The number of events thus obtained was divided by the luminosity and the bin-widths to evaluate the average $`epeXp`$ three-fold differential cross section for each ($`Q^2`$$`W`$$`M_X`$) bin. From this, the cross section was obtained using Eq. (1), integrated over $`t`$ and evaluated at the logarithmic centre of the bin. The residual double-dissociative contribution in the data leads to an overestimation of the cross section for the diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$; it was evaluated using the LPS data and subtracted as discussed in Section 10.

## 9 Systematic uncertainties

The main sources of systematic uncertainty can be classified into three groups: the positron measurement in the BPC or the CAL; the measurement of the hadronic final state in the CAL; and the measurement of the scattered proton in the LPS:

* measurement of the scattered positron:

+ for the BPC samples, the effects of the uncertainty in the absolute BPC energy scale  ($`\pm 0.5`$%), the positron-selection criteria and the alignment of the BPC result in an uncertainty in the cross section that is typically $`\pm `$7% and always smaller than $`\pm `$20%;
    + for the DIS sample, the 10 GeV cut on the scattered-positron energy was changed by $`\pm 2`$ GeV . The parameters of the neural-network positron finder were modified. To check the acceptance at low $`Q^2`$, which is determined by the positron position in the SRTD, the fiducial region around the impact point of the positron was changed. The resulting systematic uncertainty is typically $`\pm `$7% and always smaller than $`\pm `$25%.
* for the determination of the uncertainties related to the hadronic final state for the $`M_X^2`$ method, the effect of the uncertainty in the CAL energy scale ($`\pm 2`$%) was studied and the parameters in the algorithm that forms EFOs were varied. The non-diffractive slope ($`B`$ in Eq. (4)) was varied between 1.42 and 1.46. It was checked that a different choice for the functional form of the diffractive contribution in Eq. (4) does not significantly affect the final number of diffractive events. The resulting uncertainty is typically $`\pm `$8% and always smaller than $`\pm `$12%;
* the systematic uncertainties in the measurement of the scattered proton in the LPS were estimated as follows:

+ to estimate the sensitivity of the LPS acceptance to the uncertainties in the positions of the beam-line apertures, the lower limits on the distance of closest approach to any of the beam-line elements and to the edge of the sensitive region of each detector were raised from 400 $`\mu `$m to 1000 $`\mu `$m and from 200$`\mu `$m to 300 $`\mu `$m, respectively;
    + the $`x_L`$ window was varied by $`\pm 0.01`$;
    + the uncertainty in the subtraction of the beam-halo events was estimated by removing the $`E+p_Z`$ cut.

The resulting systematic uncertainty arising from the LPS measurement is typically $`\pm `$10% and always smaller than $`\pm 25\%`$.

In addition, the $`M_X`$, $`W`$ and $`t`$ dependences in EPSOFT and RAPGAP were varied within the limits allowed by the data, yielding changes in the cross section negligible with respect to all other uncertainties. The relative fraction of vector meson production in EPSOFT was varied by up to $`\pm 10\%`$, again with negligible effects on the results.

All the above contributions were summed in quadrature to give the final systematic uncertainties. The normalisation uncertainty due to the luminosity determination is $`\pm `$1% for the 1995 data and $`\pm `$1.5% for the 1996-97 data and was not included in the sum.

The value of $`R^D`$ was assumed to be zero throughout the analysis. Given the absence of experimental information on $`R^D`$, no attempt was made to quantify the systematic uncertainty entailed by this assumption.

## 10 Cross-section measurements and comparison of the $`𝑴_𝑿^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ and LPS methods

The values of $`d^2\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_Xdt`$ and $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ extracted with the LPS method are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The results obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method are presented in Table 3. All results are corrected to the Born level.

As discussed in Section 8.2, the sample from the $`M_X^2`$ method contains a double-dissociative contribution. Since the sample selected with the LPS method has a negligible proton-dissociative background , the contamination in the BPC sample was estimated by directly comparing the results from the two analysis methods.

To achieve this, the ratio, $`R_{M_X}`$, of the average cross section measured with the $`M_X^2`$ method and that measured with the LPS method was determined in a single kinematic region corresponding to the bins given in Table 3. The value obtained, $`R_{M_X}=1.85\pm 0.38`$ (stat.), is attributed to a substantial contribution from the double-dissociative reaction to the cross section measured with the $`M_X^2`$ method. In terms of the ratio of the number of double-dissociative events to the total number of events in the sample, $`R_{\mathrm{diss}}=(11/R_{M_X})`$, the estimated value of $`R_{M_X}`$ corresponds to $`R_{\mathrm{diss}}=(46\pm 11)\%`$. This is consistent with a previous estimate at higher $`Q^2`$ of $`(31\pm 15`$)% .

The results obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method presented in this paper were corrected for the residual double-dissociative background using the measured value of $`R_{M_X}`$. The correction was assumed to be independent of $`W`$ and $`Q^2`$, in agreement with the hypothesis of vertex factorisation . The values of $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ extracted with the $`M_X^2`$ method for each ($`Q^2`$, $`W`$, $`M_X`$) bin are given in Table 3. The subtraction of the double-dissociative background entails a $`\pm `$21% uncertainty in the normalisation of the cross sections obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method.

## 11 Results and discussion on the $`W`$ dependence of the diffractive and total cross sections

The energy dependence of the photon-dissociative cross sections can be successfully described by a power of $`W`$, both for photoproduction  and for DIS  – at least in the region of small $`x_{IP}`$ values where the exchange of subleading Regge trajectories can be neglected. Although the experimental uncertainties are large, the value of this power is different for the two regimes. This is analogous to the behaviour observed for the $`W`$ dependence of the virtual photon-proton total cross section, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ : the slow rise of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ at high $`W`$ observed in photoproduction becomes faster at high $`Q^2`$; the transition takes place for $`Q^21`$ GeV2. In this section, the $`W`$ dependence of the photon-dissociative cross section, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$, is studied in this transition region and is compared to the $`W`$ dependence of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ by considering the ratio of $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ to $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$.

### 11.1 The $`W`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section

Figure 2 shows the values of the diffractive cross sections extracted with the $`M_X^2`$ method in the BPC region as a function of $`W`$ for three $`Q^2`$ and two $`M_X`$ bins. The form

$$\frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}}{dM_X}=A_iW^{a_{\mathrm{diff}}}$$
(5)
was fitted to these data, where $`a_{\mathrm{diff}}`$ is a global parameter and the normalisation parameters $`A_i`$ were left free to vary for each ($`Q^2`$,$`M_X`$) bin. The results of the fit, taking into account the correlations between adjacent bins, are shown in Fig. 2; they give a good description of the data ($`\chi ^2/ndf=0.51`$, calculated using the statistical uncertainties only). The fitted value of the power of $`W`$ is

$$a_{\mathrm{diff}}=0.510\pm 0.043\text{(stat.)}_{0.122}^{+0.102}\text{(syst.)}.$$

Expressing the $`W`$ dependence of the cross section in terms of an effective Pomeron intercept , $`\overline{\alpha }_{IP}`$, as

$$\frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}}{dM_X}(W^2)^{2\overline{\alpha }_{IP}2},$$

the fitted value of $`a_{\mathrm{diff}}`$ corresponds to

$$\overline{\alpha }_{IP}=1.128\pm 0.011\text{(stat.)}_{0.030}^{+0.026}\text{(syst.)}.$$

This value of $`\overline{\alpha }_{IP}`$ can, in turn, be related to the Pomeron intercept, $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$, via

$$\overline{\alpha }_{IP}=\alpha _{IP}(0)\alpha _{IP}^{}|\overline{t}|,$$

where $`|\overline{t}|`$ is the mean value of $`|t|`$. The value of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$, obtained assuming $`\alpha _{IP}^{}=0.25`$GeV-2 and using $`|\overline{t}|=0.13`$GeV2 , is $`\alpha _{IP}(0)=1.161\pm 0.011\text{(stat.)}_{0.030}^{+0.026}\text{(syst.)}`$; it is shown in Fig. 3 together with the values determined from photoproduction and from higher-$`Q^2`$ measurements . The quoted systematic uncertainty does not include the uncertainty on $`\alpha _{IP}^{}`$, which was also not included in the other results presented in Fig. 3. The value of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$ from the present measurement at low $`Q^2`$ does not differ significantly from the values at higher $`Q^2`$.

Equation (5) was also fitted to the data allowing different values for the parameter $`a_{\mathrm{diff}}`$ in the three $`Q^2`$ bins of the measurement; the three resulting values of $`a_{\mathrm{diff}}`$ are compatible with the global value. The data used in the fit have values of $`x_{IP}`$ typically much smaller than 0.01, with the exception of the bin with lowest $`W`$ and highest $`M_X`$ values, which receives contributions from $`x_{IP}`$ values up to $`x_{IP}=0.018`$. It was assumed that Pomeron exchange dominates in this region, and no attempt was made to include secondary Reggeon exchange in the fit. Finally, it should be noted that a possible $`W`$ dependence of the double-dissociative fraction would affect the extracted value of $`\alpha _{IP}`$.

Figure 3 also shows $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$ as obtained from the ALLM97 parameterisation  of the $`\gamma ^{}p`$ total cross section, which gives a good representation of the inclusive $`F_2`$ data for the entire $`Q^2`$ range. The value of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$ from ALLM97 is consistent with the present determination from the diffractive data in the BPC region, whereas in the DIS region it is higher than the H1 and ZEUS diffractive measurements .

The LPS cross sections are presented in Fig. 4; they are in agreement with the previous ZEUS measurements at large $`Q^2`$ and with the present BPC data obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method. The previous ZEUS data  obtained by the $`M_X^2`$ method have also been corrected for the residual double-dissociative background using the value of $`R_{M_X}`$ given in Section 10; to make a direct comparison with the earlier data, the BPC cross sections from Table 3 have been interpolated to $`M_X=5`$ and 11 GeV using bin-centring corrections based on EPSOFT. The solid lines in Fig. 4 correspond to the fit of Eq. (5) to the BPC data alone, which also provides a good description of the DIS data (dashed lines). Figures 3 and 4 thus show that the $`W`$ dependence of the inclusive diffractive cross section exhibits no significant changes from the BPC to the DIS region.

### 11.2 Comparison of the $`W`$ dependence of the diffractive and the total cross sections

The $`W`$ dependences of the diffractive and total cross sections were directly compared by studying their ratio

$$r=\frac{d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X}{\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}}.$$

This ratio is plotted as a function of $`W`$ in Fig. 5, where the values of the diffractive cross sections shown in Fig. 4 were divided by the corresponding values of the $`\gamma ^{}p`$ total cross section, $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ . The lines denote the fit shown in Fig. 4 divided by the corresponding values of the ALLM97 parameterisation for $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$. The lines give a good representation of all the data. While there is a clear increase in $`r`$ as a function of $`W`$ for $`Q^2<1`$ GeV2, for higher $`Q^2`$ the distribution is flat in $`W`$.

The form $`r=N_iW^\rho `$ was fitted to the BPC data measured with the $`M_X^2`$ method; here, $`\rho `$ is a global parameter and the normalisation parameters, $`N_i`$, were left free to vary for each ($`Q^2,M_X`$) bin. The fit gives a good description (not shown) of the data with $`\rho =0.24\pm 0.07`$, where the uncertainty is derived from the fit, consistent with the expectation  from Regge theory that

$$r=\frac{(d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X)}{\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}}\frac{(W^2)^{2\overline{\alpha }_{IP}2}}{(W^2)^{\alpha _{IP}(0)1}}=W^{2(2\overline{\alpha }_{IP}\alpha _{IP}(0)1)}W^{0.19}.$$

This result suggests a different behaviour from that found in the DIS region, where the value $`\rho =0.00\pm 0.03`$  indicates that the diffractive and inclusive cross sections have the same $`W`$ dependence, contrary to the expectations of Regge theory.

In summary, in the BPC region the $`W`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is compatible with that expected from Regge phenomenology. The ratio between diffractive and total cross sections grows with $`W`$ at a rate consistent with Regge theory. This is in contrast to the DIS region, where the expectations of Regge theory for the ratio of diffractive and total cross sections are not fulfilled, since the ratio is flat as a function of $`W`$. This difference in the $`W`$ dependence of the ratio is reflected in the fact that the values of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)`$ extracted from the diffractive cross section and from $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ are similar in the BPC region, but not in the DIS region.

## 12  Results and discussion on the $`𝑸^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ dependence of diffractive and total cross sections

The $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ has been observed to change around $`Q^21`$ GeV2 : compared to the approximate $`1/Q^2`$ scaling behaviour found at high $`Q^2`$, data at $`Q^2<1`$GeV2 exhibit a weaker $`Q^2`$ dependence, with $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ being nearly independent of $`Q^2`$ at the lowest $`Q^2`$ values measured. This is consistent with the expectation from the conservation of the electromagnetic current that $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ approaches a constant or, equivalently, that $`F_2`$ vanishes like $`Q^2`$ as $`Q^20`$.

In this section, the $`Q^2`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$, is studied and the question is addressed of whether and where a transition similar to that observed for $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ occurs for the diffractive dissociation of virtual photons.

### 12.1  The $`𝑸^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section

Figure 6 shows the diffractive cross sections, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$, as a function of $`Q^2`$ in bins of $`W`$ and $`M_X`$. The present measurements are plotted together with previous ZEUS results , obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method in the DIS region, and H1 results , obtained with the rapidity-gap method in photoproduction for $`M_N<`$ 1.6 GeV and $`|t|<1`$ GeV2; bin-centring corrections based on EPSOFT, analogous to those described in Section 11.1, were applied, where necessary, to both ZEUS and H1 results. No further corrections were applied to the H1 data; notably, no attempt was made to correct for the double-dissociative background.

In Fig. 6, a change in the $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ as $`Q^2`$ increases is apparent and is similar to that observed in the $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ data: at low $`Q^2`$, the data do not exhibit a strong $`Q^2`$ dependence, while at larger $`Q^2`$, the cross section falls rapidly for increasing $`Q^2`$. Figure 7 shows $`x_{_{IP}}F_2^{D(3)}`$ as a function of $`Q^2`$ for fixed $`W`$ and $`M_X`$; while at large $`Q^2`$ the data do not exhibit a strong $`Q^2`$ dependence, $`x_{_{IP}}F_2^{D(3)}`$ falls by a factor of about ten between $`Q^28`$ GeV2 and $`Q^20.2`$ GeV2.

### 12.2 Discussion

The diffractive dissociation of the virtual photon can be described by perturbative QCD (pQCD) since the photon’s virtuality, $`Q^2`$, provides a hard scale. In particular, in the proton rest frame, the reaction can be viewed as a sequence of three successive processes : the photon fluctuates into a $`q\overline{q}`$ (or $`q\overline{q}g`$) state, the $`q\overline{q}`$ dipole scatters off the proton target and, finally, the scattered $`q\overline{q}`$ pair produces the final state. At high centre-of-mass energies of the $`\gamma p`$ system, these processes are widely separated in time. The $`q\overline{q}`$ fluctuation is described in terms of the photon wave-function derived from QCD. The interaction of the $`q\overline{q}`$ dipole with the proton is mediated, in lowest order, by the exchange of two gluons in a colour-singlet state.

The present results have been compared to the model of Bartels et al. (BEKW) . In this model, neglecting the contribution of longitudinally polarised photons, the dominant (leading-twist) contributions to the diffractive structure function in the kinematic domain of the present measurement come from the fluctuations of the photon into either a $`q\overline{q}`$ pair ($`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$) or a $`q\overline{q}g`$ state ($`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$). The $`\beta `$ spectra of these two components are determined by rather general properties of the photon wave-function: $`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$ behaves like $`\beta (1\beta )`$ and $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ like $`(1\beta )^\gamma `$, where $`\gamma `$ = 3.9 . At large $`\beta `$, $`q\overline{q}`$ production dominates over $`q\overline{q}g`$ production, while, at small $`\beta `$, $`q\overline{q}g`$ production becomes dominant. $`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$ has no $`Q^2`$ dependence; $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ is of order $`\alpha _S`$ and has a logarithmic $`Q^2`$ dependence of the type $`\mathrm{log}(1+Q^2/Q_0^2)`$, where the scale parameter $`Q_0^2`$ is taken to be 1 GeV2. The model does not fix the $`x_{IP}`$ dependence of $`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$ and $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$, but assumes for both a power-like behaviour $`x_{IP}^{n_{\mathrm{diff}}(Q^2)}`$, where the exponent $`n_{\mathrm{diff}}`$ is determined from fits to the data.

A comparison of the BEKW parameterisation with the present data is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The values of the parameters, including the normalisation of the $`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$ and $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ components, were taken from a fit to the previous ZEUS results , with the exception of the $`x_{IP}`$ exponent, for which a constant value corresponding to $`a_{\mathrm{diff}}/2`$, determined from Eq. (5), was used. The DIS data at high $`Q^2`$ constrain the parameterisation of the $`\beta `$ dependence of $`F_{q\overline{q}}^T`$ (dashed lines) at low $`M_X`$ and of $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ (dotted lines) at high $`M_X`$. The logarithmic $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ is probed only in the highest-$`Q^2`$ region and is less well constrained.

The $`Q^2`$ dependence of $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$ becomes crucial in the transition to low $`Q^2`$. In fact, as $`Q^2`$ decreases from the DIS into the BPC region, for a given value of $`M_X`$, $`\beta `$ also decreases: the BPC data in Figs. 6 and 7 correspond to values of $`\beta `$ that are typically two orders of magnitude smaller than those in the DIS data and thus, in the BPC region, the contribution from the fluctuation of the photon into a $`q\overline{q}g`$ system becomes dominant. While extrapolating the BEKW parameterisation to low $`Q^2`$ may not be formally justified, it is interesting to note that, in $`F_{q\overline{q}g}^T`$, conservation of the electromagnetic current is assured by the fact that $`\mathrm{log}(1+Q^2/Q_0^2)`$ vanishes like $`Q^2/Q_0^2`$ as $`Q^20`$. The transition from the linear behaviour at low $`Q^2`$ to the logarithmic behaviour at higher $`Q^2`$ is controlled by the scale parameter $`Q_0^2`$; the choice $`Q_0^2=1`$ GeV2 successfully describes the BPC data.

### 12.3  Comparison of the $`𝑸^\mathrm{𝟐}`$ dependence of the diffractive and the total cross sections

Figure 8 shows the ratio $`r=(d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X)/\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ as a function of $`Q^2`$ for different $`W`$ and $`M_X`$ bins. At low $`Q^2`$, the $`Q^2`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is similar to that of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$. In the DIS regime, $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$ decreases with $`Q^2`$ more rapidly than $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$. This is more evident for small values of $`M_X`$. In addition, the ratio $`r`$ appears to increase between the BPC and the DIS regions.

Also shown in the figure are the results of the BEKW parameterisation of the diffractive cross-section $`d\sigma _{\mathrm{diff}}^{\gamma ^{}p}/dM_X`$, shown in Fig. 6, divided by the values of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$ given by the ALLM97 parameterisation . There is reasonable agreement between these parameterisations and the data, indicating that the data may be qualitatively described by an appropriate choice of the relative fractions of the $`q\overline{q}`$ and $`q\overline{q}g`$ contributions.

## 13 Summary

The diffractive dissociation of virtual photons, $`\gamma ^{}pXp`$, has been studied at HERA at low $`Q^2`$ ($`0.17<Q^2<0.70`$ GeV2) and in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) ($`3<Q^2<80`$ GeV2). The diffractive signal has been selected either by requiring the detection of a final-state proton with at least 97% of the incoming proton-beam energy, or by exploiting the different properties of the $`M_X`$ distributions for diffractive and non-diffractive events.

The $`W`$ dependence of the low-$`Q^2`$ cross-section data obtained with the $`M_X^2`$ method ($`3<M_X<12.2`$ GeV) has been found to be compatible with a single power of $`W`$, which corresponds to a Pomeron intercept of $`\alpha _{IP}(0)=1.161\pm 0.011\text{(stat.)}_{0.030}^{+0.026}\text{(syst.)}`$. This is consistent with that previously observed in the DIS regime. Thus, the significant change in the $`W`$ dependence exhibited by the $`\gamma {}_{}{}^{}p`$ total cross section in the transition from low $`Q^2`$ to DIS is not visible in the diffractive cross section. To elucidate this difference, the $`W`$ dependence of the ratio, $`r`$, of the diffractive cross section to the $`\gamma ^{}p`$ total cross section was studied at low $`Q^2`$ and was found to rise with $`W`$, $`rW^{0.24\pm 0.07}`$, in agreement with the expectation from Regge theory. This is in contrast to the observation at higher $`Q^2`$ that this ratio is independent of $`W`$.

The $`Q^2`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section changes as $`Q^2`$ increases up to the DIS regime: while at low $`Q^2`$ the data do not exhibit a strong $`Q^2`$ dependence, at larger $`Q^2`$ the cross section falls rapidly for increasing $`Q^2`$. This change of behaviour occurs for values of $`Q^2`$ around 1 GeV2 and is analogous to that observed in the total $`\gamma {}_{}{}^{}p`$ cross section. The ratio of the diffractive cross section to the $`\gamma ^{}p`$ total cross section was studied as a function of $`Q^2`$. At low $`Q^2`$, the ratio $`r`$ shows little dependence on $`Q^2`$, indicating that the $`Q^2`$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is similar to that of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{tot}}^{\gamma ^{}p}`$. The ratio increases between the BPC and the DIS regions. In the DIS regime for low $`M_X`$, the ratio decreases with increasing $`Q^2`$, indicating that the diffractive cross section decreases with $`Q^2`$ more rapidly than the $`\gamma ^{}p`$ total cross section.

The main features of the data, reproduced by a parameterisation based on the BEKW model, indicate that the framework in which the incoming virtual photon fluctuates into a quark-antiquark pair is, in general, adequate to describe diffractive processes in $`ep`$ collisions from the BPC to the DIS region. At the same time, the data suggest the increasing importance of the contribution from $`q\overline{q}g`$ states at low $`Q^2`$. It is interesting that the ratio of the diffractive cross section to the total cross section shows a change from a $`W^{0.24\pm 0.07}`$ dependence for $`Q^2<0.7`$ GeV2 to $`W^{0.00\pm 0.03}`$ for $`Q^2>3`$ GeV2. This complex behaviour of diffraction as a function of both $`Q^2`$ and $`W`$ reveals a rich testing ground for future theoretical models.

## Acknowledgements

We thank the DESY directorate for their encouragement, and acknowledge the support of the DESY computing and network services. We are especially grateful to the HERA machine group: collaboration with them was crucial to the successful installation and operation of the leading proton spectrometer. The design, construction and installation of the ZEUS detector have been made possible by the ingenuity and efforts of many people from DESY and home institutes who are not listed as authors. Finally, it is a pleasure to thank J. Bartels, K. Golec-Biernat, N.N. Nikolaev, M.G. Ryskin and M. Strikman for many useful discussions.