Constraining the Proton's Gluon Density by Inclusive Charm Electroproduction at HERA
A. Vogt
Abstract
We analyze the capability of charm production in deep-inelastic ep scattering at HERA to constrain the gluon distribution g(y,μ^2) of the proton. The dependence of the theoretical predictions for the charm structure function F_2^c on the mass factorization scale μand the charm mass is investigated. F_2^c seems to be well suited for a rather clean and local gluon measurement at small momentum fractions y.