Measurement of D-meson production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Abstract

The production cross sections for prompt charmed mesons D0, D+, D∗+ and D+ s were measured at mid-rapidity in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy √s = 7 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). D mesons were reconstructed from their decays D0 → K− π +, D+ → K− π + π +, D∗+ → D0π +, D+ s → φπ + → K−K+ π +, and their charge conjugates. With respect to previous measurements in the same rapidity region, the coverage in transverse momentum (pT) is extended and the uncertainties are reduced by a factor of about two. The accuracy on the estimated total cc production cross section is likewise improved. The measured pT differential cross sections are compared with the results of three perturbative QCD calculations.