Impact of future HERA data on the determination of proton parton distribution functions

Abstract

The high precision and large kinematic coverage of the data from the HERA-I running period (1994-2000) have already allowed precise extractions of proton parton distribution functions. The HERA-II running program is now underway and is expected to provide a substantial increase in the luminosity collected at HERA. In this paper, a study is presented which investigates the potential impact of future HERA data on the proton PDF uncertainties, within the currently planned running scenario. Next-to-leading order QCD predictions for inclusive jet cross sections at the LHC centre-of-mass energy are presented using the estimated PDFs. Finally, the effect of a possible future measurement of the longitudinal structure function, F_L, on the gluon distribution is investigated.

9 pages, 5 figures, prepared for the HERA-LHC workshop