Nuclear shadowing corrections to the structure functions of deep inelastic scattering of intermediate-mass nuclei are calculated at very low values of Bjorken x and small values of Q^2 (Q^2<5 GeV^2). The two-component approach (generalized VMD plus hard pomeron) is used for a description of the underlying virtual photon - nucleon interaction. The hard component of the nucleon structure function is calculated in a framework of the colour dipole model with dipole cross section having Regge-type energy dependence. Numerical results for nuclear shadowing corrections are compared with available data of E665 and NMC collaborations.

We argued that deep inelastic scattering (DIS) at small values of Q squared is an essentially nonperturbative process and can be described, partially at least, by the vector meson dominance (VMD) model. We showed by the straightforward calculation that VMD model alone can successfully explain data on structure functions of DIS in a broad interval of x (5e-2 - 1e-4) for the region Q squared < 1 GeV squared. For a description of data at larger Q squared we used the two-component (VMD + perturbative QCD) approach. We showed that these two components can be separated if VMD is used in the aligned jet version. We took into account, in calculations of VMD component of structure functions, the excited states of the rho-meson and nondiagonal transitions between different members of the rho-meson family. Amplitudes of these transitions were obtained using a formalism of the light-front Bethe-Salpeter equation and the method of diffraction-scattering eigenstates. The perturbative QCD component was calculated using a framework of the colour dipole model with the dipole cross section having a Regge-type energy dependence. We presented results of the detailed comparison of our predictions with experimental data for structure functions of the nucleon. We obtained also approximate predictions for the structure functions in the region of very small x, up to 1e-9, and showed that nonperturbative component at such values of x is still relatively large and must be taken into account if Q squared is about few GeV squared or less.

We show that nucleon electromagnetic structure functions of deep inelastic scattering in Regge-Gribov limit (fixed Q-squared, asymptotically large 1/x and s) can be well described in the two-component (soft + hard) approach. In the concrete model elaborated by authors, the soft part of the virtual photon-nucleon scattering is given by the vector meson dominance, with taking into account the radial excitations of the rho-meson and nondiagonal transitions in meson-nucleon interactions. The hard part is calculated by using the dipole factorization, i.e., the process is considered as the dissociation of the photon into a -pair (the "color dipole") and the subsequent interaction of this dipole with the nucleon. The dipole cross section has a Regge-type s-dependence and vanishes in the limit of large transverse sizes of the dipole. We give the brief description of the model and present results of the detailed comparison of model predictions with experimental data for electromagnetic structure functions of the nucleon.

It is shown that experimental data on the electromagnetic structure functions of a nucleon in the kinematic region of low x can be described in terms of a two-component approach in which the nonperturbative part of photon-nucleon interaction is described in terms of a updated variant of the generalized model of vector dominance that includes the radial excitations of mesons and off-diagonal elements of the matrix of meson-nucleon scattering. The perturbative component is described using the color-dipole model.

A two component model describing the electromagnetic nucleon structure functions in the low-x region, based on generalized vector dominance and color dipole approaches is briefly described. The model operates with the mesons of rho-family having the mass spectrum of the form m(n)(2) = m(rho)(2) (1 + 2n) and takes into account the nondiagonal transitions in meson-nucleon scattering. The special cut-off factors are introduced in the model, to exclude the gamma - q (q) over bar - V transitions in the case of narrow q (q) over bar -pairs. For the color dipole part of the model the well known FKS-parameterization is used.

The nondiagonal generalized vector dominance model (GVDM) of photoabsorption is elaborated using QCD-motivated picture of the (gamma)-(q,anti q) - transition and subsequent meson dominated scattering of the (q, anti q)-pair on the nucleon. The relativistic constituent quark model for a description of the meson (q, anti q)-wave functionsis used. The meson-nucleon scattering is calculated in the two-gluon exchange approximation. It is shown that the destructive interference effects and corresponding cancellations in the photoabsorption cross section formula are small, so the GVDM predictions are incorrect if no extra cut-off factors in GVDM formulas are introduced.

The nondiagonal generalized vector dominance model (GVDM) of photoabsorption is elaborated using QCD-motivated picture of the γ− − qq-transition and subsequent meson dominated scattering of the − qq-pair on the nucleon. The relativistic constituent quark model for a description of the me-son − qq-wave functions is used. The meson-nucleon scattering is calculated in the two-gluon exchange approximation. It is shown that the destructive interference effects and corresponding cancellations in the photoabsorption cross section formula are small, so the GVDM predictions are incorrect if no extra cutoff factors in GVDM formulas are introduced.

The total photoabsorption cross section on the nucleon is studied using nondiagonal GVDM. Vector meson-nucleon scattering amplitudes are calculated in two-gluon exchange approximation of QCD. The off-diagonal transitions of diffraction dissociation type between different vector mesons and their contributions to the expression for the total photoabsorption cross section on the nucleon are also calculated. It is shown that destructive interference of diagonal and off-diagonal terms is not effective. The main conclusion is that a p-cut-off in gamma-quark antiquark transition is necessary for obtaining the convergence in the summation over all vector meson contributions.