  We analyse, in NLO, the physical properties of the discrete eigenvalue
solution for the BFKL equation. We show that a set of eigenfunctions with
positive eigenvalues, \omega, together with a small contribution from a
continuum of eigenfunctions with negative \omega, provide an excellent
description of high-precision HERA F_2 data in the region, x<0.001, Q^2 > 6
GeV^2. The phases of the eigenfunctions can be obtained from a simple
parametrisation of the pomeron spectrum, which has a natural motivation within
BFKL. The data analysis shows that the first eigenfunction decouples completely
or almost completely from the proton. This suggests that there exist an
additional ground state, which is naturally saturated and may have the
properties of the soft pomeron.
