Energy dependence of the charged multiplicity in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

The charged multiplicity distributions and the mean charged multiplicity have been investigated in inclusive neutral current deep inelastic e p scattering with the ZEUS detector at HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb(-1). The measurements were performed in the current region of the Breit frame, as well as in the current fragmentation region of the hadronic centre-of-mass frame. The KNO-scaling properties of the data were investigated and the energy dependence was studied using different energy scales. The data are compared to results obtained in e(+)e(-) collisions and to previous DIS measurements as well as to leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo predictions.