Threshold inelastic electron scattering from the proton at high momentum transfers.

Cross sections for threshold electron scattering from the proton have been measured in the missing mass squared region [ital M][sup 2][lt][ital W][sup 2][lt]2 (GeV)[sup 2] and the four-momentum transfer squared region 6[lt][ital Q][sup 2][lt]30 (GeV/[ital c])[sup 2]. Scaling of the extracted values of the structure function [ital F][sub 2]=[nu][ital W][sub 2] is examined in the variables [ital x], [xi], and [ital W][sup 2]. The best scaling is found for the quantity [ital Q][sup 6][ital F][sub 2], which is found to be linearly proportional to ([ital W][sup 2][minus][ital W][sub th][sup 2]), where [ital W][sub th]=[ital M]+[ital M][sub [pi]].