D*+/- Production in e-p and e+p Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of D*+/- meson production in deep inelastic e-p and e+p scattering at HERA, comparing results with NLO QCD predictions and observing slight differences between e-p and e+p interactions.

Contribution

First measurement of D*+/- production in e-p and e+p deep inelastic scattering at HERA with detailed cross section comparison to QCD predictions.

Findings

D*+/- cross sections agree with NLO QCD predictions

Slightly higher D*+/- cross section in e-p than in e+p interactions

Validation of charm meson production models in DIS

Abstract

Inclusive production of D*+/- (2010) mesons in deep inelastic scattering has been measured using e+p and e-p data obtained with the ZEUS detector at HERA using integrated luminosities of 16.7 and 65.2 pb-1, respectively. The decay channel D*+/- -> D0 pi+ with D0 -> K- pi+ and corresponding antiparticle decays were used to identify D*+/- mesons. The D*+/- cross sections in e-p and e+p interactions agree with NLO QCD predictions, although the D*+/- cross section in e-p is slightly higher than that in e+p.