QCD Predictions for Charm and Bottom Production at RHIC

TL;DR

A rigorous benchmark is established against which nuclear collision data can be compared to obtain evidence for nuclear effects, and the electron spectrum resulting from heavy flavor decays is calculated.

Abstract

We make up-to-date QCD predictions for open charm and bottom production at RHIC in nucleon-nucleon collisions at \sqrt{S} = 200 GeV. We also calculate the electron spectrum resulting from heavy flavor decays to allow direct comparison to the data. A rigorous benchmark, including the theoretical uncertainties, is established against which nuclear collision data can be compared to obtain evidence for nuclear effects.

Figures (4)

• Figure 1: The theoretical uncertainty bands for the charm quark and $D$ meson $p_T$ distributions in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{S} = 200$ GeV, using BR($c \to D$) = 1. Data from the STAR Collaboration from d+Au collisions (scaled to $pp$ using $N_{\rm bin}$ = 7.5) at $\sqrt{S_{NN}} = 200$ GeV, final Adams:2004fc and preliminary Tai:2004bf, are also shown.
• Figure 2: The theoretical uncertainty bands for the bottom quark and $B$ meson $p_T$ distributions in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{S} = 200$ GeV, using BR($b \to B$) = 1.
• Figure 3: The various components of the electron transverse momentum spectrum. These curves are calculated with the central masses and scales, i.e. $m_c = 1.5$ GeV, $m_b = 4.75$ GeV and $\xi_{R,F} = 1$.
• Figure 4: The final prediction for the theoretical uncertainty band of the electron spectrum from charm and bottom in $pp$ collisions. Preliminary data from the PHENIX Kelly:2004qw and STAR (final Adams:2004fc and preliminary Tai:2004bf) Collaborations are also shown.