D*+- meson production in deep inelastic diffractive interactions at HERA

A measurement is presented of the cross section for D ∗± meson production in diffractive deep-inelastic scattering for the first time at HERA. The cross section is given for the process ep → eXY , where the system X contains at least one D ∗± meson and is separated by a large rapidity gap from a low mass proton remnant system Y . The cross section is presented in the diffractive deep-inelastic region defined by 2< Q 2 <100 GeV 2 , 0.05< y <0.7, x P <0.04 , M Y <1.6 GeV and | t |<1 GeV 2 . The D ∗± mesons are restricted to the range p T,D ∗ >2 GeV and |η D ∗ |<1.5 . The cross section is found to be 246±54±56 pb and forms about 6% of the corresponding inclusive D ∗± cross section. The cross section is presented as a function of various kinematic variables, including z P obs which is an estimate of the fraction of the momentum of the diffractive exchange carried by the parton entering the hard-subprocess. The data show a large component of the cross section at low z P obs where the contribution of the boson–gluon-fusion process is expected to dominate. The data are compared with several QCD-based calculations.

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18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Report-no: DESY 01-105

positron p: colliding beams
positron p: deep inelastic scattering
diffraction
D*(2010): photoproduction
rapidity: gap
D*(2010): hadronic decay
differential cross section: momentum transfer
transverse momentum dependence
rapidity dependence
fusion: photon gluon

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