The proceedings of DIS 2001 present the most updated status of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) physics. Topics like structure function measurements and phenomenology, QCD studies in DIS and photoproduction, spin physics and diffractive interactions are reviewed in detail, with emphasis on those studies that push the test of QCD and the Standard Model to the limits of their present range of validity, towards both the very high and the very low four-momentum transfers in the lepton-proton scattering. Moreover, this workshop coincided with the transition between the first period of experimentation at the HERA ep collider at DESY and the start of the updated HERA II operation -- allowing a review of what has been learned up to now and a discussion on the main future directions of research in this field.

This volume contains contributions to the XXI International Symposium on Lepton and Photon Interactions at High Energies, held at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. It gives up-to-date reviews of all aspects of particle physics, written by leading practitioners in the field. The review nature of all the articles makes this volume more accessible to students and researchers in other fields of physics. In addition to new experimental data and advances in theory, the future directions and prospects for the field are covered.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in: ? Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings? (ISTP? / ISI Proceedings)? Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)? CC Proceedings ? Engineering & Physical Sciences