UC Berkeley

The production cross sections for prompt charmed mesons D0$$\mathrm{D^0}$$, D+$$\mathrm{D^+}$$, D∗+$$\mathrm{D^{*+}}$$ and Ds+$$\mathrm{D_s^+}$$ were measured at mid-rapidity in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s=7TeV$$\sqrt{s}=7~{\mathrm {TeV}}$$ with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). D mesons were reconstructed from their decays D0→K-π+$$\mathrm{D}^0 \rightarrow \mathrm{K}^-\pi ^+$$, D+→K-π+π+$$\mathrm{D}^+\rightarrow \mathrm{K}^-\pi ^+\pi ^+$$, D∗+→D0π+$$\mathrm{D}^{*+} \rightarrow \mathrm{D}^0 \pi ^+$$, Ds+→ϕπ+→K-K+π+$$\mathrm{D_s^{+}\rightarrow \phi \pi ^+\rightarrow K^-K^+\pi ^+}$$, and their charge conjugates.With respect to previous measurements in the same rapidity region, the coverage in transverse momentum (pT$$p_\mathrm{T}$$) is extended and the uncertainties are reduced by a factor of about two. The accuracy on the estimated total cc¯$$\mathrm{c}{\overline{\mathrm{c}}}$$ production cross section is likewise improved. The measured pT$$p_\mathrm{T}$$-differential cross sections are compared with the results of three perturbative QCD calculations.