Production asymmetry of $D$ and ${\bar D}$ mesons in the LHCb fixed target experiment and intrinsic charm in the nucleon

TL;DR

This paper analyzes $D$ and ${ar D}$ meson production asymmetries in fixed target proton-nucleus collisions, highlighting the importance of gluon-gluon fusion, intrinsic charm, and recombination mechanisms, especially for understanding production asymmetries.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach combining multiple mechanisms to explain $D$ meson production and asymmetry, aligning with recent LHCb fixed target data.

Findings

Recombination is key to understanding $D^0$ and ${ar D}^0$ asymmetries.

All considered mechanisms are significant for inclusive $D$ meson production.

The model agrees with recent experimental data.

Abstract

We discuss production of $D^0$ and ${\bar D}^0$ mesons in proton-nucleus collisions in fixed target experiments. We include gluon-gluon fusion, intrinsic charm and perturbative recombination. We compare rapidity and transverse momentum distributions obtained within our approach with recent fixed target LHCb experimental data. All the mechanisms seem important for inclusive production of $D^0 + {\bar D}^0$ mesons. The recombination mechanism seems crucial to understand asymmetry in production of $D^0$ and ${\bar D}^0$ mesons.