The gluon contribution to the spin-dependent structure function of the proton

The contribution of polarised gluons to the spin-dependent structure function of the proton is analysed. This contribution has been claimed to account for the discrepancies between the theoretical predictions and the newest experimental data. Its dependence on the scaling variable is investigated under several assumptions. We find that in the parton model its behaviour is qualitatively different from that suggested by the experimental data. We conclude that far reaching assumptions have to be made to explain the EMC data by the proposed mechanism. (author)