Charm production in a string model of proton-proton collisions

Using a simple string fragmentation model, with charm pair production in the string, in conjunction with a Drell-Yan type mechanism of string hadroproduction, many features of charm particles production in proton-proton collisions are described. While the normalisation of cross-sections is arbitrary, the relative normalisation of Λsub(c) and D production is well described by the model. This normalisation is related to previous results of the model and the running coupling αsub(s) of QCD via a plausibility argument. It is argued that other approaches, which dismiss the possibility of charm pair production in the string, are rather pressimistic in this respect. Brief comments about testing this hypothesis through polarization measruements are made. (orig.)