Diffractive production of D*+-(2010) mesons in deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 44.3 pb-1. Diffractive charm production is identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state of events in which a D*+-(2010) meson is reconstructed in the decay channel D*+ -> (D0 -> K-pi+) pi+ (+ charge conjugate). Differential cross sections when compared with theoretical predictions indicate the importance of gluons in such diffractive interactions.
Measurment of total diffractive cross section and ratio to inclusive DIS cross section.
Ratio of diffractive to inclusive D*+- production w.r.t. Q**2.
Ratio of diffractive to inclusive D*+- production w.r.t. W.
A measurement is presented of the cross section for D* meson production in diffractive deep-inelastic scattering for the first time at HERA. The cross section is given for the process ep -> eXY, where the system X contains at least one D* meson and is separated by a large rapidity gap from a low mass proton remnant system Y. The cross section is presented in the diffractive deep-inelastic region defined by 2< Q^2 < 100 GeV^2, 0.05 < y < 0.7, x_pom < 0.04, M_Y < 1.6 GeV and |t| < 1 GeV^2. The D* mesons are restricted to the range ptD* > 2 GeV and |\eta_D* | < 1.5. The cross section is found to be 246+-54+-56 pb and forms about 6% of the corresponding inclusive D* cross section. The cross section is presented as a function of various kinematic variables, including z_pom^obs which is an estimate of the fraction of the momentum of the diffractive exchange carried by the parton entering the hard-subprocess. The data show a large component of the cross section at low z_pom^obs where the contribution of the Boson-Gluon-Fusion process is expected to dominate. The data are compared with several QCD--based calculations.
The total D*+- production cross section for the given kinematic region. Also given is the ratio to the DIS*+- production cross section in the samekinematic region.
Cross section as a function of X(NAME=POMERON).
Cross section as a function of LOG10(BETA). BETA = X/X(NAME=POMERON).