Diffractive photoproduction of $ D^{*±} $(2010) at HERA

Abstract Diffractive photoproduction of $ D^{*±} $(2010) mesons was measured with the ZEUS detector at the ep collider HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 78.6 $ pb^{-1} $. The $ D^{*} $ mesons were reconstructed in the kinematic range: transverse momentum $ p_{T} $($ D^{*} $) > 1.9 GeV and p...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

Abstract Diffractive photoproduction of $ D^{*±} $(2010) mesons was measured with the ZEUS detector at the ep collider HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 78.6 $ pb^{-1} $. The $ D^{*} $ mesons were reconstructed in the kinematic range: transverse momentum $ p_{T} $($ D^{*} $) > 1.9 GeV and pseudorapidity |η($ D^{*} $)|<1.6, using the decay $ D^{*+} $→$ D^{0} %$ π^{+} $s followed by $ D^{0} $→$ K^{-} %$ π^{+} $(+c.c.). Diffractive events were identified by a large gap in pseudorapidity between the produced hadronic state and the outgoing proton. Cross sections are reported for photon–proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 300 GeV and for photon virtualities $ Q^{2} $ < 1 $ GeV^{2} $, in two ranges of the Pomeron fractional momentum $ x_{IP} $<0.035 and $ x_{IP} $<0.01. The relative contribution of diffractive events to the inclusive $ D^{*±} $(2010) photoproduction cross section is about 6%. The data are in agreement with perturbative QCD calculations based on various parameterisations of diffractive parton distribution functions. The results are consistent with diffractive QCD factorisation. Ausführliche Beschreibung