Heavy Flavor Production in Hadron Collisions (with a few leptons and photons thrown in).pdf

a r X i v : h e p - e x / 0 4 0 8 0 4 3 v 1 1 2 A u g 2 0 0 4 XXIV Physics in Collision - Boston, June 27-29, 2004 HEAVY FLAVOR PRODUCTION IN HADRON COLLISIONS (WITH A FEW LEPTONS AND PHOTONS THROWN IN) Harold G. Evans Columbia University, New York, NY, USA ABSTRACT Substantial advances in our understanding of several aspects of QCD have been achieved in the recent past using heavy quarks as a tool. However, many open questions still remain. These successes and puzzles are highlighted by the latest measurements of heavy quark production at the Tevatron, HERA and fixed tar- get experiments, which will be reviewed here. Results in both open heavy flavor and heavy quarkonium production as well as evidence for new particles containing heavy quarks will be presented. The impact of these measurements on gaps in our understanding of QCD and how we hope to close these gaps in the future will be outlined. 1 1 Why Study Heavy Quark Production? Quantum Chromodynamics is universally acknowledged to be the theory of the strong force. However, its study continues to be a compelling area of research because of the difficulty of performing calculations in regions where the theory be- comes non-perturbative. This means that, although we understand the structure of the theory, we still cannot make accurate predictions for a wide range of impor- tant observables. Intellectually, this is frustrating (or an opportunity for the more optimistic). But it also has a more practical consequence. Our understanding of QCD processes is intimately entwined with our understanding of other aspects of the Standard Model because QCD is a part of all SM predictions, from estimates of backgrounds to corrections to electro-weak observables. It turns out that the production of heavy quarks by the strong force is an excellent area to study some of the technical details of QCD that are so important in our tests of the Standard Model. To understand this, consider the production of a heavy quark-antiqua