Test of QCD and a measurement of Λ from scaling violations in the nucleon structure function F2(x,Q2)

Scaling violations in the nucleon structure function F2(x,Q2) measured with high statistics in deep inelastic scattering of muons on a carbon target are compared to predictions of perturbative QCD. Excellent agreement is observed with numerical solutions of the Altarelli-Parisi evolution equations over the entire x and Q2 range of data. In a next-to-leading order nonsinglet approximation, the QCD mass scale parameter ΛMS is determined to be 230±20(stat.)±60(syst.) MeV. A singlet to the data favours a soft gluon distribution.