Early scaling in two photon reactions?

We show that the interpretation given by the TPC/2γ collaboration that their results for the photon structure function F₂^γ(x) indicates precocious scaling for Q²>0.3 GeV² and x<0.1 is questionable. It appears to be a spurious effect possibly due to the fact that (i) the authors do not include two prong events (important at low W), and (ii) in presenting the data they have averaged the W dependence in each Q² bin. To estimate the pointlike contribution of the offshell photon, we use the quark parton model (QPM) and find that this accounts for the data for Q²>20 GeV² and all values of W. This hard component is also responsible for the bulk of the cross section at low Q² and W<3 GeV. The soft or hadronic component is shown to dominate only at high W>6 GeV for values of Q²≤10 GeV².