The production of D+- and D0 mesons has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 133.6 pb-1. The measurements cover the kinematic range 5 < Q^2 < 1000 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, 1.5 < p_T^D < 15 GeV and eta^D < 1.6. Combinatorial background to the D meson signals is reduced by using the ZEUS microvertex detector to reconstruct displaced secondary vertices. Production cross sections are compared with the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD which is found to describe the data well. Measurements are extrapolated to the full kinematic phase space in order to obtain the open-charm contribution, F2^ccbar, to the proton structure function, F2.
H1 and ZEUS have published single-differential cross sections for inclusive D^{*\pm}-meson production in deep-inelastic ep scattering at HERA from their respective final data sets. These cross sections are combined in the common visible phase-space region of photon virtuality Q2 > 5 GeV2, electron inelasticity 0.02 < y < 0.7 and the D^{*\pm} meson's transverse momentum pT (D^*) > 1.5 GeV and pseudorapidity |eta(D^*)| < 1.5. The combination procedure takes into account all correlations, yielding significantly reduced experimental uncertainties. Double-differential cross sections d2s /dQ2dy are combined with earlier D^{*\pm} data, extending the kinematic range down to Q2 > 1.5 GeV2. Perturbative next-to-leadingorder QCD predictions are compared to the results.
Single- and double-differential inclusive dijet cross sections in neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of 374 pb^-1. The measurement was performed at large values of the photon virtuality, Q^2, between 125 and 20000 GeV^2. The jets were reconstructed with the k_T cluster algorithm in the Breit reference frame and selected by requiring their transverse energies in the Breit frame, E_T,B^jet, to be larger than 8 GeV. In addition, the invariant mass of the dijet system, M_jj, was required to be greater than 20 GeV. The cross sections are described by the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD.
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 e^+p neutral-current deep inelastic scattering differential cross-sections $d\sigma/dQ^2$, for Q^2 > 400 GeV^2, $d\sigma/dx$ and $d\sigma/dy$, for Q^2 > 400, 2500 and 10000 GeV^2, have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The data sample of 47.7 pb^-1 was collected at a center-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. The cross-section, $d\sigma/dQ^2$, falls by six orders of magnitude between Q^2 = 400 and 40000 GeV^2. The predictions of the Standard Model are in very good agreement with the data. Complementing the observations of time-like Z^0 contributions to fermion-antifermion annihilation, the data provide direct evidence for the presence of Z^0 exchange in the space-like region explored by deep inelastic scattering.
The production of neutral strange hadrons is investigated using deep-inelastic scattering events measured with the H1 detector at HERA. The measurements are made in the phase space defined by the negative four-momentum transfer squared of the photon 2 < Q^2 < 100 GeV^2 and the inelasticity 0.1 < y < 0.6. The K_s and Lambda production cross sections and their ratios are determined. K_s production is compared to the production of charged particles in the same region of phase space. The Lambda - anti-Lambda asymmetry is also measured and found to be consistent with zero. Predictions of leading order Monte Carlo programs are compared to the data.
The inclusive production of D^{*+-}(2010) mesons in deep-inelastic scattering is studied with the H1 detector at HERA. In the kinematic region 1<Q^2<100 GeV^2 and 0.05<y<0.7 an e^+p cross section for inclusive D^(*+-) meson production of 8.50+- 0.42 (stat.)^(+1.21)_(-1.00) (syst.) nb is measured in the visible range p_(tD^*)>1.5 GeV and |\eta_(D^*)|<1.5. Single and double differential inclusive D^(*+-) meson cross sections are compared to perturbative QCD calculations in two different evolution schemes. The charm contribution to the proton structure, F_2^c(x,Q^2), is determined by extrapolating the visible charm cross section to the full phase space. This contribution is found to rise from about 10% at Q^2 = 1.5 GeV^2 to more than 25% at Q^2 = 60 GeV^2 corresponding to x values ranging from 5*10^(-5) to 3*10^(-3)$.
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.
A measurement of the beauty production cross section in ep collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 319 GeV is presented. The data were collected with the H1 detector at the HERA collider in the years 1999-2000. Events are selected by requiring the presence of jets and muons in the final state. Both the long lifetime and the large mass of b-flavoured hadrons are exploited to identify events containing beauty quarks. Differential cross sections are measured in photoproduction, with photon virtualities Q^2 < 1 GeV^2, and in deep inelastic scattering, where 2 < Q^2 < 100 GeV^2. The results are compared with perturbative QCD calculations to leading and next-to-leading order. The predictions are found to be somewhat lower than the data.
Jet cross sections were measured in charged current deep inelastic e+-p scattering at high boson virtualities Q^2 with the ZEUS detector at HERA II using an integrated luminosity of 0.36 fb^-1. Differential cross sections are presented for inclusive-jet production as functions of Q^2, Bjorken x and the jet transverse energy and pseudorapidity. The dijet invariant mass cross section is also presented. Observation of three- and four-jet events in charged-current e+-p processes is reported for the first time. The predictions of next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD calculations are compared to the measurements. The measured inclusive-jet cross sections are well described in shape and normalization by the NLO predictions. The data have the potential to constrain the u and d valence quark distributions in the proton if included as input to global fits.
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