Measurement of D*±, D± and D<inf>s</inf>± meson production cross sections in pp collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract

The production of D⁎±D⁎±, D±D± and View the MathML sourceDs± charmed mesons has been measured with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at View the MathML sources=7 TeV at the LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 280 nb−1280 nb−1. The charmed mesons have been reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum 3.5<pT(D)<100 GeV3.5<pT(D)<100 GeV and pseudorapidity |η(D)|<2.1|η(D)|<2.1. The differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity were measured for D⁎±D⁎± and D±D± production. The next-to-leading-order QCD predictions are consistent with the data in the visible kinematic region within the large theoretical uncertainties. Using the visible D cross sections and an extrapolation to the full kinematic phase space, the strangeness-suppression factor in charm fragmentation, the fraction of charged non-strange D mesons produced in a vector state, and the total cross section of charm production at View the MathML sources=7 TeV were derived.