Extraction of F_2^c(x,Q^2) from D* cross sections at H1

Andreas Werner Jung

Published 2009-08-19Version 1

The charm contribution to the proton structure, F_2^c(x,Q^2), is determined using the inclusive cross sections of D*(2010) meson production in deep-inelastic scattering. The cross section measurement covers the region 5 < Q2 < 1000 GeV2 in photon virtuality and 0.02 < y < 0.70 in the inelasticity of the scattering process. The D* meson is measured in transverse momentum and pseudo-rapidity down to p_T > 1.5 GeV and up to |eta| < 1.5. The data were taken with the H1 detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 347 pb-1. F_2^c is determined from the D* production cross sections and compared to leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions.