Nucleon structure and hard p-p processes at high energies

The production of heavy flavour hadrons in $pp$ collisions at large values of their transverse momenta can be a new unique source for estimation of intrinsic heavy quark contribution to the proton. We analyze the inclusive production of the open strangeness and the semi-inclusive hard processes of the photon and vector boson production accompanied by the $c$- or $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions. We show that one should select the parton-level (sub)processes (and final-state signatures) that are the most sensitive to the intrinsic heavy quark contributions. We present some predictions for these processes made within the perturbative QCD including the intrinsic strangeness and intrinsic charm in the proton that can be verified in the NA61 experiment and at LHC.

Searching for intrinsic charm in the proton at the LHC

Despite rather long-term theoretical and experimental studies, the hypothesis of the non-zero intrinsic (or valence-like) heavy quark component of the proton distribution functions has not yet been confirmed or rejected. The LHC with $pp$-collisions at $sqrt{s}=$ 7--14 TeV will obviously supply extra unique information concerning the above-mentioned component of the proton. To use the LHC potential, first of all, one should select the parton-level (sub)processes (and final-state signatures) that are most sensitive to the intrinsic heavy quark contributions. To this end inclusive production of $c(b)$-jets accompanied by photons is considered. On the basis of the performed theoretical study it is demonstrated that the investigation of the intrinsic heavy quark contributions looks very promising at the LHC in processes such as $pprightarrow gamma+ c(b)+X$.