Properties of the BFKL equation and structure function predictions for DESY HERA

Abstract

The general properties of the Lipatov or Balitskij-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov equation are reviewed. Modifications to the infrared region are proposed. Numerical predictions for the deep-inelastic electron-proton structure functions at small $x$ are presented and confronted with recent DESY HERA measurements.