Measurement of D-meson production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $${\sqrt{s}=7}$$ TeV

The production cross sections for prompt charmed mesons \(\mathrm{D^0}\), \(\mathrm{D^+}\), \(\mathrm{D^{*+}}\) and \(\mathrm{D_s^+}\) were measured at mid-rapidity in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy \(\sqrt{s}=7~{\mathrm {TeV}}\) with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). D mesons were reconstructed from their decays \(\mathrm{D}^0 \rightarrow \mathrm{K}^-\pi ^+\), \(\mathrm{D}^+\rightarrow \mathrm{K}^-\pi ^+\pi ^+\), \(\mathrm{D}^{*+} \rightarrow \mathrm{D}^0 \pi ^+\), \(\mathrm{D_s^{+}\rightarrow \phi \pi ^+\rightarrow K^-K^+\pi ^+}\), and their charge conjugates.With respect to previous measurements in the same rapidity region, the coverage in transverse momentum (\(p_\mathrm{T}\)) is extended and the uncertainties are reduced by a factor of about two. The accuracy on the estimated total \(\mathrm{c}{\overline{\mathrm{c}}}\) production cross section is likewise improved. The measured \(p_\mathrm{T}\)-differential cross sections are compared with the results of three perturbative QCD calculations.