A unitary model for structure functions and diffractive production at small x Original Research Article

We propose a unified approach which describes both structure functions in the small-x region and diffractive production in γ∗p-interactions. It is shown that the model, based on reggeon calculus and a quark–parton picture of the interaction, gives a good description of available experimental data in a broad region of Q2 (including Q2=0) with a single Pomeron of intercept αP(0)=1.2. Predictions for very small x are given and the problem of saturation of parton densities is discussed.