D ∗ and D meson production in muon nucleon interactions at 160 GeV/c

C. Adolph; M. G. Alekseev; V. Yu. Alexakhin; Yu. Alexandrov; G. D. Alexeev; A. Amoroso; A. A. Antonov; A. Austregesilo; B. Badełek; F. Balestra; J. Barth; G. Baum; Y. Bedfer; A. Berlin; J. Bernhard; R. Bertini; M. Bettinelli; K. Bicker; J. Bieling; R. Birsa; J. Bisplinghoff; P. Bordalo; F. Bradamante; C. Braun; A. Bravar; A. Bressan; M. Büchele; E. Burtin; L. Capozza; M. Chiosso; S. U. Chung; A. Cicuttin; M. L. Crespo; S. Dalla Torre; S. Das; S. S. Dasgupta; S. Dasgupta; O. Yu. Denisov; L. Dhara; S. V. Donskov; N. Doshita; V. Duic; W. Dünnweber; M. Dziewiecki; A. Efremov; C. Elia; P. D. Eversheim; W. Eyrich; M. Faessler; A. Ferrero; A. Filin; M. Finger; M. Finger; H. Fischer; C. Franco; N. du Fresne von Hohenesche; J. M. Friedrich; V. Frolov; R. Garfagnini; F. Gautheron; O. P. Gavrichtchouk; S. Gerassimov; R. Geyer; M. Giorgi; I. Gnesi; B. Gobbo; S. Goertz; S. Grabmüller; A. Grasso; B. Grube; R. Gushterski; A. Guskov; T. Guthörl; F. Haas; D. von Harrach; F. H. Heinsius; F. Herrmann; C. Heß; F. Hinterberger; N. Horikawa; Ch. Höppner; N. d’Hose; S. Huber; S. Ishimoto; O. Ivanov; Yu. Ivanshin; T. Iwata; R. Jahn; V. Jary; P. Jasinski; R. Joosten; E. Kabuß; D. Kang; B. Ketzer; G. V. Khaustov; Yu. A. Khokhlov; Yu. Kisselev; F. Klein; K. Klimaszewski; S. Koblitz; J. H. Koivuniemi; V. N. Kolosov; K. Kondo; K. Königsmann; I. Konorov; V. F. Konstantinov; A. Korzenev; A. M. Kotzinian; O. Kouznetsov; M. Krämer; Z. V. Kroumchtein; F. Kunne; K. Kurek; L. Lauser; A. A. Lednev; A. Lehmann; S. Levorato; J. Lichtenstadt; T. Liska; A. Maggiora; A. Magnon; N. Makke; G. K. Mallot; A. Mann; C. Marchand; A. Martin; J. Marzec; T. Matsuda; G. Meshcheryakov; W. Meyer; T. Michigami; Yu. V. Mikhailov; A. Morreale; A. Mutter; A. Nagaytsev; T. Nagel; F. Nerling; S. Neubert; D. Neyret; V. I. Nikolaenko; W.-D. Nowak; A. S. Nunes; A. G. Olshevsky; M. Ostrick; A. Padee; R. Panknin; D. Panzieri; B. Parsamyan; S. Paul; E. Perevalova; G. Pesaro; D. V. Peshekhonov; G. Piragino; S. Platchkov; J. Pochodzalla; J. Polak; V. A. Polyakov; J. Pretz; M. Quaresma; C. Quintans; J.-F. Rajotte; S. Ramos; V. Rapatsky; G. Reicherz; E. Rocco; E. Rondio; N. S. Rossiyskaya; D. I. Ryabchikov; V. D. Samoylenko; A. Sandacz; M. G. Sapozhnikov; S. Sarkar; I. A. Savin; G. Sbrizzai; P. Schiavon; C. Schill; T. Schlüter; A. Schmidt; K. Schmidt; L. Schmitt; H. Schmïden; K. Schönning; S. Schopferer; M. Schott; O. Yu. Shevchenko; L. Silva; L. Sinha; A. N. Sissakian; M. Slunecka; G. I. Smirnov; S. Sosio; F. Sozzi; A. Srnka; L. Steiger; M. Stolarski; M. Sulc; R. Sulej; H. Suzuki; P. Sznajder; S. Takekawa; J. Ter Wolbeek; S. Tessaro; F. Tessarotto; L. G. Tkatchev; S. Uhl; I. Uman; M. Vandenbroucke; M. Virius; N. V. Vlassov; L. Wang; T. Weisrock; M. Wilfert; R. Windmolders; W. Wiślicki; H. Wollny; K. Zaremba; M. Zavertyaev; E. Zemlyanichkina; M. Ziembicki; N. Zhuravlev; A. Zvyagin

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-012-2253-1

2021 Impact factor 4.991

Particles and Fields

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. C (2012) 72: 2253
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-012-2253-1

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

D ^∗ and D meson production in muon nucleon interactions at 160 GeV/c

C. Adolph⁸, M. G. Alekseev²⁴, V. Yu. Alexakhin⁷, Yu. Alexandrov¹⁵, G. D. Alexeev⁷, A. Amoroso²⁷, A. A. Antonov⁷, A. Austregesilo¹⁰^,17, B. Badełek³⁰, F. Balestra²⁷, J. Barth⁴, G. Baum¹, Y. Bedfer²², A. Berlin², J. Bernhard¹³, R. Bertini²⁷, M. Bettinelli¹⁶, K. Bicker¹⁰^,17, J. Bieling⁴, R. Birsa²⁴, J. Bisplinghoff³, P. Bordalo¹², F. Bradamante²⁵, C. Braun⁸, A. Bravar²⁴, A. Bressan²⁵^*, M. Büchele⁹, E. Burtin²², L. Capozza²², M. Chiosso²⁷, S. U. Chung¹⁷, A. Cicuttin²⁶, M. L. Crespo²⁶, S. Dalla Torre²⁴, S. Das⁶, S. S. Dasgupta⁶, S. Dasgupta⁶, O. Yu. Denisov²⁸, L. Dhara⁶, S. V. Donskov²¹, N. Doshita³², V. Duic²⁵, W. Dünnweber¹⁶, M. Dziewiecki³¹, A. Efremov⁷, C. Elia²⁵, P. D. Eversheim³, W. Eyrich⁸, M. Faessler¹⁶, A. Ferrero²², A. Filin²¹, M. Finger¹⁹, M. Finger⁷, H. Fischer⁹, C. Franco¹², N. du Fresne von Hohenesche¹⁰^,13, J. M. Friedrich¹⁷, V. Frolov¹⁰, R. Garfagnini²⁷, F. Gautheron², O. P. Gavrichtchouk⁷, S. Gerassimov¹⁵^,17, R. Geyer¹⁶, M. Giorgi²⁵, I. Gnesi²⁷, B. Gobbo²⁴, S. Goertz⁴, S. Grabmüller¹⁷, A. Grasso²⁷, B. Grube¹⁷, R. Gushterski⁷, A. Guskov⁷, T. Guthörl⁹, F. Haas¹⁷, D. von Harrach¹³, F. H. Heinsius⁹, F. Herrmann⁹, C. Heß², F. Hinterberger³, N. Horikawa¹⁸, Ch. Höppner¹⁷, N. d’Hose²², S. Huber¹⁷, S. Ishimoto³², O. Ivanov⁷, Yu. Ivanshin⁷, T. Iwata³², R. Jahn³, V. Jary²⁰, P. Jasinski¹³, R. Joosten³, E. Kabuß¹³, D. Kang¹³, B. Ketzer¹⁷, G. V. Khaustov²¹, Yu. A. Khokhlov²¹, Yu. Kisselev², F. Klein⁴, K. Klimaszewski³⁰, S. Koblitz¹³, J. H. Koivuniemi², V. N. Kolosov²¹, K. Kondo³², K. Königsmann⁹, I. Konorov¹⁵^,17, V. F. Konstantinov²¹, A. Korzenev²², A. M. Kotzinian²⁷, O. Kouznetsov²²^,7, M. Krämer¹⁷, Z. V. Kroumchtein⁷, F. Kunne²², K. Kurek³⁰, L. Lauser⁹, A. A. Lednev²¹, A. Lehmann⁸, S. Levorato²⁵, J. Lichtenstadt²³, T. Liska²⁰, A. Maggiora²⁸, A. Magnon²², N. Makke²²^,25, G. K. Mallot¹⁰, A. Mann¹⁷, C. Marchand²², A. Martin²⁵, J. Marzec³¹, T. Matsuda¹⁴, G. Meshcheryakov⁷, W. Meyer², T. Michigami³², Yu. V. Mikhailov²¹, A. Morreale²², A. Mutter¹³^,9, A. Nagaytsev⁷, T. Nagel¹⁷, F. Nerling⁹, S. Neubert¹⁷, D. Neyret²², V. I. Nikolaenko²¹, W.-D. Nowak⁹, A. S. Nunes¹², A. G. Olshevsky⁷, M. Ostrick¹³, A. Padee³¹, R. Panknin⁴, D. Panzieri²⁸^,29, B. Parsamyan²⁷, S. Paul¹⁷, E. Perevalova⁷, G. Pesaro²⁵, D. V. Peshekhonov⁷, G. Piragino²⁷, S. Platchkov²², J. Pochodzalla¹³, J. Polak¹¹^,25, V. A. Polyakov²¹, J. Pretz⁴, M. Quaresma¹², C. Quintans¹², J.-F. Rajotte¹⁶, S. Ramos¹², V. Rapatsky⁷, G. Reicherz², E. Rocco¹⁰, E. Rondio³⁰, N. S. Rossiyskaya⁷, D. I. Ryabchikov²¹, V. D. Samoylenko²¹, A. Sandacz³⁰, M. G. Sapozhnikov⁷, S. Sarkar⁶, I. A. Savin⁷, G. Sbrizzai²⁵, P. Schiavon²⁵, C. Schill⁹, T. Schlüter¹⁶, A. Schmidt⁸, K. Schmidt⁹, L. Schmitt¹⁷, H. Schmïden³, K. Schönning¹⁰, S. Schopferer⁹, M. Schott¹⁰, O. Yu. Shevchenko⁷, L. Silva¹², L. Sinha⁶, A. N. Sissakian⁷, M. Slunecka⁷, G. I. Smirnov⁷, S. Sosio²⁷, F. Sozzi²⁴, A. Srnka⁵, L. Steiger²⁴, M. Stolarski¹², M. Sulc¹¹, R. Sulej³⁰, H. Suzuki³², P. Sznajder³⁰, S. Takekawa²⁸, J. Ter Wolbeek⁹, S. Tessaro²⁴, F. Tessarotto²⁴, L. G. Tkatchev⁷, S. Uhl¹⁷, I. Uman¹⁶, M. Vandenbroucke²², M. Virius²⁰, N. V. Vlassov⁷, L. Wang², T. Weisrock¹³, M. Wilfert¹³, R. Windmolders⁴, W. Wiślicki³⁰, H. Wollny²², K. Zaremba³¹, M. Zavertyaev¹⁵, E. Zemlyanichkina⁷, M. Ziembicki³¹, N. Zhuravlev⁷ and A. Zvyagin¹⁶

¹ Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, 33501, Bielefeld, Germany
² Institut für Experimentalphysik, Universität Bochum, 44780, Bochum, Germany
³ Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Universität Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany
⁴ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany
⁵ Institute of Scientific Instruments, AS CR, 61264, Brno, Czech Republic
⁶ Matrivani Institute of Experimental Research & Education, Calcutta, 700 030, India
⁷ Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 141980, Dubna, Moscow region, Russia
⁸ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Erlangen–Nürnberg, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
⁹ Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, 79104, Freiburg, Germany
¹⁰ CERN, 1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland
¹¹ Technical University in Liberec, 46117, Liberec, Czech Republic
¹² LIP, 1000-149, Lisbon, Portugal
¹³ Institut für Kernphysik, Universität Mainz, 55099, Mainz, Germany
¹⁴ University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan
¹⁵ Lebedev Physical Institute, 119991, Moscow, Russia
¹⁶ Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799, Munich, Germany
¹⁷ Physik Department, Technische Universität München, 85748, Garching, Germany
¹⁸ Nagoya University, 464, Nagoya, Japan
¹⁹ Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, 18000, Prague, Czech Republic
²⁰ Czech Technical University in Prague, 16636, Prague, Czech Republic
²¹ Institute for High Energy Physics, State Research Center of the Russian Federation, 142281, Protvino, Russia
²² CEA IRFU/SPhN Saclay, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
²³ School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel
²⁴ Trieste Section of INFN, 34127, Trieste, Italy
²⁵ Department of Physics and Trieste Section of INFN, University of Trieste, 34127, Trieste, Italy
²⁶ Abdus Salam ICTP and Trieste Section of INFN, 34127, Trieste, Italy
²⁷ Department of Physics and Torino Section of INFN, University of Turin, 10125, Turin, Italy
²⁸ Torino Section of INFN, 10125, Turin, Italy
²⁹ University of Eastern Piedmont, 15100, Alessandria, Italy
³⁰ National Centre for Nuclear Research and University of Warsaw, 00-681, Warsaw, Poland
³¹ Institute of Radioelectronics, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-665, Warsaw, Poland
³² Yamagata University, Yamagata, 992-8510, Japan
³³ National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA, 22230, USA
³⁴ III. Physikalisches Institut, RWTH Aachen University, 52056, Aachen, Germany

^* e-mail: Andrea.Bressan@cern.ch

Received: 7 November 2012
Revised: 26 November 2012
Published online: 11 December 2012

Abstract

The production of D ^∗ and D mesons in inelastic scattering of 160 GeV/c muons off a ⁶LiD target has been investigated with the COMPASS spectrometer at CERN for 0.003 (GeV/c)²<Q ²<10 (GeV/c)² and 3×10⁻⁵<x _Bj<0.1. The study is based on 8100 events where a D ⁰ or is detected subsequently to a D ^∗+ or D ^∗− decay, and on 34000 events, where only a D ⁰ or is detected. Kinematic distributions of D ^∗, D and are given as a function of their energy E, transverse momentum p _T, energy fraction z, and of the virtual photon variables ν, Q ² and x _Bj. Semi-inclusive differential D ^∗ production cross-sections are compared with theoretical predictions for D ^∗ production via photon–gluon fusion into open charm. The total observed production cross-section for D ^∗± mesons with laboratory energies between 22 and 86 GeV is (1.9±0.4) nb. Significant cross-section asymmetries are observed between D ^∗+ and D ^∗− production for ν<40 GeV and z>0.6.