Measurement of the multiplicity dependence of charm production in proton--proton collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the CERN-LHC

Potential of the charm quark as a probe to study the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is best harnessed when its production mechanisms are disentangled from its propagation through the QGP. Proton-proton (pp) collisions help us to study charmed hadron production mechanisms. The measurement of D-meson yields in pp collisions as a function of the multiplicity of produced particles allows one to gain some insight into the processes occurring in the collision at a microscopic level. Here, the preliminary results are presented from this measurement at \sqrt{s} = 7 TeV. The analysis strategy, the applied corrections, and the determination of the systematic uncertainties are described. The preliminary results are presented and compared with those from a similar, published, measurement of J/\psi production.
Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the 13th National Symposium on Frontiers in Physics (Peshawar, Pakistan), to be submitted to the IOP, Journal of Physics, Conference Series, December 2012