A Precision Measurement of the Inclusive ep Scattering Cross Section at HERA

A measurement of the inclusive deep inelastic neutral current e + p scattering cross section is reported in the region of four-momentum transfer squared, 12 GeV2≤Q 2≤150 GeV2, and Bjorken x, 2×10−4≤x≤0.1. The results are based on data collected by the H1 Collaboration at the ep collider HERA at positron and proton beam energies of E e =27.6 GeV and E p =920 GeV, respectively. The data are combined with previously published data, taken at E p =820 GeV. The accuracy of the combined measurement is typically in the range of 1.3–2%. A QCD analysis at next-to-leading order is performed to determine the parton distributions in the proton based on H1 data.