Multiplicities and angular distributions in deep-inelasticepandenscattering

Abstract

We report charged hadron multiplicities and inclusive angular distributions in deep-inelastic electron-proton and electron-neutron scattering in the kinematic range $1.4\le Q^2\le 8$ ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$ and $3\le s\le 14$ ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$. At the lowest $s$ values we observe that the $\mathrm{ep}$ mean multiplicity is somewhat less than in photoproduction. This is associated with a relative increase in one-prong events and a decrease in three-prong events. Also at low $s$ the $\mathrm{en}$ multiplicity is lower than the $\mathrm{ep}$ multiplicity. At higher $s$ values the $\mathrm{ep}$ and $\mathrm{en}$ multiplicities are essentially equal and independent of $Q^2$ at fixed $s$. The relative topological cross sections, the pseudorapidity distributions, and the azimuthal angle dependence are also independent of $Q^2$.