Measurement of Bottom Versus Charm as a Function of Transverse Momentum with Electron-Hadron Correlations in p plus p Collisions at s=200 GeV (Article No. 082002)
Abstract
The momentum distribution of electrons from semileptonic decays of charm and bottom quarks for midrapidity |y|{ 0.35 in p p collisions at s=200 GeV is measured by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range 2 { p(T){ 7 GeV/c. The ratio of the yield of electrons from bottom to that from charm is presented.
The ratio is determined using partial D/D -} e( /-)K(-/ )X (K unidentified) reconstruction. It is found that the yield of electrons from bottom becomes significant above 4 GeV/c in p(T).
A fixed-order-plus-next-to-leading-log perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation agrees with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. The extracted total bottom production cross section at this energy is sigma(bb)=3.2(-1.1)( 1.2)(stat)(-1.3)( 1.4)(syst)mu b.