Measurement of the inclusive e ± p scattering cross section at high inelasticity y and of the structure function F L

A measurement is presented of the inclusive neutral current e ± p scattering cross section using data collected by the H1 experiment at HERA during the years 2003 to 2007 with proton beam energies E p of 920, 575, and 460 GeV. The kinematic range of the measurement covers low absolute four-momentum transfers squared, 1.5 GeV2<Q 2<120 GeV2, small values of Bjorken x, 2.9⋅10−5<x<0.01, and extends to high inelasticity up to y=0.85. The structure function F L is measured by combining the new results with previously published H1 data at E p =920 GeV and E p =820 GeV. The new measurements are used to test several phenomenological and QCD models applicable in this low Q 2 and low x kinematic domain.