Measurement of diffractive production of <f>D&ast;±(2010)</f> mesons in deep-inelastic scattering at HERA

Diffractive production of <f>D&ast;±(2010)</f> mesons in deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of <f>44.3 pb−1</f>. Diffractive charm production is identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state of events in which a <f>D&ast;±(2010)</f> meson is reconstructed in the decay channel <f>D&ast;+→(D0→K−π+)π+s</f> (<f>+</f> charge conjugate). Differential cross sections when compared with theoretical predictions indicate the importance of gluons in such diffractive interactions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]