Using a silicon-microstrip detector array to identify secondary vertices, we have observed b→J/ψ→μ+μ− decays in 800GeV/c proton-gold interactions. The doubly differential cross section for J/ψ mesons originating from b-quark decays, assuming linear dependence on nucleon number, is d2σ/dxFdpT2=107±28±19[pb/(GeV/c)2]/nucleon at xF=0.05 and pT=1GeV/c. This measurement is compared to next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. The integrated b-quark production cross section, obtained by extrapolation over all xF and pT, is σ(pN→bb¯+X)=5.7±1.5±1.3 nb/nucleon.
Using the HERA-B detector, the b-bbar production cross section has been measured in 920 GeV proton collisions on carbon and titanium targets. The b-bbar production was tagged via inclusive bottom quark decays into J/psi, by exploiting the longitudinal separation of J/psi->ll decay vertices from the primary proton-nucleus interaction. Both $e^+e^-$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$ channels have been reconstructed and the combined analysis yields the cross section $\sigma(b \bar b) = 32 ^{+14}_{-12} (stat) ^{+6}_{-7} (sys) nb/nucleon$.
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