Open charm production at the LHC: kₜ-factorization approach

We discuss inclusive production of open charm in proton-proton scattering at LHC. The calculation is performed within the kₜ-factorization approach. Different models of unintegrated gluon distributions (UGDFs) from the literature are used. The theoretical transverse momentum as well as (pseudo)rapidity distributions of charmed mesons are compared with recent experimental data of the ATLAS, ALICE, and LHCb Collaborations. Only the calculation with Kimber-Martin-Ryskin UGDF gives results comparable to experimental ones. All other popular models of UGDF significantly underpredict experimental data. Several sources of uncertainties of the theoretical predictions are also studied in detail. In addition, we discuss correlations between D and D̄ mesons. Good description of experimental distribution in invariant mass and in relative azimuthal angle between D and D̄ mesons is achieved for the Kimber-Martin-Ryskin UGDF. The considered correlation observables measured by the LHCb experiment were not discussed in other approaches in the literature