Determination of the longitudinal proton structure function FL(x,Q2) at low x

A measurement of the inclusive cross section for the deep-inelastic scattering of positrons off protons at HERA is presented at momentum transfers 8.5 ≤ Q2 ≤ 35 GeV2 and large inelasticity = 0.7, i.e. for the Bjorken-x range 0.00013 ≤ x ≤ 0.00055. Using a next-to-leading order QCD fit to the structure function F2 at lower y values, the contribution of F2 to the measured cross section at high y is calculated and, by subtraction, the longitudinal structure function FL is determined for the first time with an average value of FL = 0.52 ± 0.03 (statt)−0.22+0.25 (syst) at Q2 = 15.4 GeV2 and x = 0.000243.