Exclusive ρ⁰ production in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

Exclusive ρ⁰ electroproduction at HERA has been studied with the ZEUS detector using 120 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected during 1996-2000. The analysis was carried out in the kinematic range of photon virtuality 2 < Q² < 160 GeV² and γ^*p centre-of-mass energy 32 < W < 180 GeV. The results include the Q² and W dependence of the γ^*p → ρ⁰p cross section and the distribution of the squared-four-momentum transfer to the proton. The helicity analysis of the decay-matrix elements of the ρ⁰ was used to study the ratio of the γ^*p cross section for longitudinal and transverse photon as a function of Q², W and t. Finally, an effective Pomeron trajectory was extracted.