Measurements are presented of diffractive open charm production at HERA. The event topology is given by ep -> eX Y where the system X contains at least one charmed hadron and is well separated by a large rapidity gap from a leading low-mass proton remnant system Y. Two analysis techniques are used for the cross section measurements. In the first, the charm quark is tagged by the reconstruction of a D*(2010) meson. This technique is used in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) and photoproduction. In the second, a method based on the displacement of tracks from the primary vertex is used to measure the open charm contribution to the inclusive diffractive cross section in DIS. The measurements are compared with next-to-leading order QCD predictions based on diffractive parton density functions previously obtained from a QCD analysis of the inclusive diffractive cross section at H1. A good agreement is observed in the full kinematic regime, which supports the validity of QCD factorization for open charm production in diffractive DIS and photoproduction.
Reduced cross section for diffractive D*+- production measured in the DIS region from the displaced track analysis.
A measurement of charm and beauty dijet photoproduction cross sections at the ep collider HERA is presented. Events are selected with two or more jets of transverse momentum $p_t^{jet}_{1(2)}>11(8)$ GeV in the central range of pseudo-rapidity $-0.9<\eta^{jet}_{1(2)}<1.3$. The fractions of events containing charm and beauty quarks are determined using a method based on the impact parameter, in the transverse plane, of tracks to the primary vertex, as measured by the H1 central vertex detector. Differential dijet cross sections for charm and beauty, and their relative contributions to the flavour inclusive dijet photoproduction cross section, are measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the leading jet, the average pseudo-rapidity of the two jets and the observable $x_{\gamma}^{obs}$. Taking into account the theoretical uncertainties, the charm cross sections are consistent with a QCD calculation in next-to-leading order, while the predicted cross sections for beauty production are somewhat lower than the measurement.
The cross section of the diffractive process e^+p -> e^+Xp is measured at a centre-of-mass energy of 318 GeV, where the system X contains at least two jets and the leading final state proton p is detected in the H1 Very Forward Proton Spectrometer. The measurement is performed in photoproduction with photon virtualities Q^2 <2 GeV^2 and in deep-inelastic scattering with 4 GeV^2<Q^2<80 GeV^2. The results are compared to next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on diffractive parton distribution functions as extracted from measurements of inclusive cross sections in diffractive deep-inelastic scattering.
The production of isolated photons in deep-inelastic scattering $ep\to e \gamma X$ is measured with the H1 detector at HERA. The measurement is performed in the kinematic range of negative four-momentum transfer squared $4<Q^2<150 $~GeV$^2$ and a mass of the hadronic system $W_X>50$ GeV. The analysis is based on a total integrated luminosity of 227~pb$^{-1}$. The production cross section of isolatedphotons with a transverse energy in the range $3 < E_T^\gamma < 10$ GeV and pseudorapidity range $-1.2 < \eta^\gamma < 1.8$ is measured as a function of $E_T^\gamma$, $\eta^\gamma$ and $Q^2$. Isolated photon cross sections are also measured for events with no jets or at least one hadronic jet. The measurements are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo generators modelling the photon radiation from the quark and the electron lines, as well as with calculations at leading and next to leading order in the strong coupling. The predictions significantly underestimate the measured cross sections.
Dijet events in photon-proton collisions in which there is a large pseudorapidity separation Delta eta > 2.5 between the two highest E_T jets are studied with the H1 detector at HERA. The inclusive dijet cross sections are measured as functions of the longitudinal momentum fractions of the proton and photon which participate in the production of the jets, x_pjet and x_gjet respectively, Delta eta, the pseudorapidity separation between the two highest E_T jets, and E_T^gap, the total summed transverse energy between the jets. Rapidity gap events are defined as events in which E_T^gap is less than E_T^cut, for E_T^cut varied between 0.5 and 2.0 GeV. The fraction of dijet events with a rapidity gap is measured differentially in Delta eta, x_pjet and x_gjet. An excess of events with rapidity gaps at low values of E_T^cut is observed above the expectation from standard photoproduction processes. This excess can be explained by the exchange of a strongly interacting colour singlet object between the jets.
The production of prompt photons is measured in the photoproduction regime of electron-proton scattering at HERA. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 340 pb^-1 collected by the H1 experiment. Cross sections are measured for photons with transverse momentum and pseudorapidity in the range 6 < Et < 15 GeV and -1.0 < eta < 2.4, respectively. Cross sections for events with an additional jet are measured as a function of the transverse energy and pseudorapidity of the jet, and as a function of the fractional momenta x_gamma and x_p carried by the partons entering the hard scattering process. The correlation between the photon and the jet is also studied. The results are compared with QCD predictions based on the collinear and on the k_T factorisation approaches.
With the H1 detector at the ep collider HERA, D* meson production cross sections have been measured in deep inelastic scattering with four-momentum transfers Q^2>2 GeV2 and in photoproduction at energies around W(gamma p)~ 88 GeV and 194 GeV. Next-to-Leading Order QCD calculations are found to describe the differential cross sections within theoretical and experimental uncertainties. Using these calculations, the NLO gluon momentum distribution in the proton, x_g g(x_g), has been extracted in the momentum fraction range 7.5x10^{-4}< x_g <4x10^{-2} at average scales mu^2 =25 to 50 GeV2. The gluon momentum fraction x_g has been obtained from the measured kinematics of the scattered electron and the D* meson in the final state. The results compare well with the gluon distribution obtained from the analysis of scaling violations of the proton structure function F_2.
Inclusive D* production is measured in deep-inelastic ep scattering at HERA with the H1 detector. In addition, the production of dijets in events with a D* meson is investigated. The analysis covers values of photon virtuality 2< Q^2 <=100 GeV^2 and of inelasticity 0.05<= y <= 0.7. Differential cross sections are measured as a function of Q^2 and x and of various D* meson and jet observables. Within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties all measured cross sections are found to be adequately described by next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD calculations, based on the photon-gluon fusion process and DGLAP evolution, without the need for an additional resolved component of the photon beyond what is included at NLO. A reasonable description of the data is also achieved by a prediction based on the CCFM evolution of partons involving the k_T-unintegrated gluon distribution of the proton.
Three- and four-jet production is measured in deep-inelastic $ep$ scattering at low $x$ and $Q^2$ with the H1 detector using an integrated luminosity of $44{.}2 {\rm pb}^{-1}$. Several phase space regions are selected for the three-jet analysis in order to study the underlying parton dynamics from global topologies to the more restrictive regions of forward jets close to the proton direction. The measurements of cross sections for events with at least three jets are compared to fixed order QCD predictions of ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^2)$ and ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^3) $ and with Monte Carlo simulation programs where higher order effects are approximated by parton showers. A good overall description is provided by the ${\mathcal{O}}(\alpha_{\rm s}^3) $ calculation. Too few events are predicted at the lowest $x \sim 10^{-4}$, especially for topologies with two forward jets. This hints to large contributions at low $x$ from initial state radiation of gluons close to the proton direction and unordered in transverse momentum. The Monte Carlo program in which gluon radiation is generated by the colour dipole model gives a good description of both the three- and the four-jet data in absolute normalisation and shape.
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