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Diffractively produced charm final states in 800-GeV/c pp collisions
M H Wang1, M C Berisso, D C Christian
1University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|August 11, 2001
Summary
This study presents the first observation of open charm production via diffraction in proton-proton collisions. Researchers measured cross-sections for D*+ and D*- mesons, contributing new data to fixed-target charm experiments.
Area of Science:
- High Energy Physics
- Particle Physics
- Nuclear Physics
Background:
- Open charm production in proton-proton collisions is a key area for understanding quantum chromodynamics.
- Diffractive processes offer unique insights into the structure of hadrons and the dynamics of particle interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the first observation of diffractively produced open charm particles in proton-proton collisions.
- To measure the cross-sections for the diffractive production of D*+ and D*- mesons.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from FNAL E690 experiment using 4.3x10^9 recorded events.
- Utilized fixed-target proton-proton collisions at 800-GeV/c.
- Focused on the specific reaction type pp-->pD*X.
Main Results:
- Measured cross-section for diffractive D*+ production: sigma(diff)(D*+) = (0.185+/-0.044+/-0.054) mu b.
- Measured cross-section for diffractive D*- production: sigma(diff)(D(*-)) = (0.174+/-0.034+/-0.029) mu b.
- These results represent the first observation of this phenomenon in this collision type.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully observed and quantified diffractively produced open charm in fixed-target proton-proton collisions.
- The measured cross-sections provide valuable data for theoretical models of charm production.
- Comparison with previous fixed-target charm experiments will be discussed to contextualize these findings.