Longitudinal-transverse separations of deep-inelastic structure functions at low Q2 for hydrogen and deuterium

We report on a study of the longitudinal to transverse cross section ratio, R=sigma(L)/sigma(T), at low values of x and Q(2), as determined from inclusive inelastic electron-hydrogen and electron-deuterium scattering data from Jefferson Laboratory Hall C spanning the four-momentum transfer range 0.06 < Q(2)< 2.8 GeV2. Even at the lowest values of Q(2), R remains nearly constant and does not disappear with decreasing Q(2), as might be expected. We find a nearly identical behavior for hydrogen and deuterium.