Measurement of D* Mesons in Jets from p_s16p Collisions at sqrts = 200 GeV

Abstract

We report the measurement of charged $D^*$ mesons in inclusive jets produced in proton-proton collisions at a center of mass energy $sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment at RHIC. For $D^{*}$ mesons with fractional momenta $0.2 < z < 0.5$ in inclusive jets with 11.5 GeV mean transverse energy, the production rate is found to be $N(D^{*_s16}_s16D^{*-})/N(mathrm{jet}) = 0.015 pm 0.008 (mathrm{stat}) pm 0.007 (mathrm{sys})$. This rate is consistent with perturbative QCD evaluation of gluon splitting into a pair of charm quarks and subsequent hadronization.