Probing the parton densities of virtual photons atepcolliders

The feasibility of an experimental determination of the parton distributions of virtual photons at high energy $\mathrm{ep}$ colliders is studied in the context of the DESY HERA collider. Recently proposed parton densities of virtual photons are utilized to evaluate the appropriate production processes and their relevant kinematical regions. It is demonstrated that high $E_T$ jet production with $E_T\simeq 5-7$ GeV and $b\overline{b}$ production can probe the parton distributions of virtual photons up to virtualities of a few Ge${\mathrm{V}}^2$. A useful leading order parametrization of our proposed photonic parton densities, suitable for further studies of these issues, is presented.