Heavy quark production by a quasi-classical color field in proton–nucleus collisions

Abstract

We calculate the inclusive heavy quark production cross section for proton–nucleus collisions at high energies. We perform calculation in a quasi-classical approximation (McLerran–Venugopalan model) neglecting all low-x evolution effects. The derived expression for the differential cross section can be applied for studying the heavy quark production in the central rapidity region at RHIC.