Open charm production in hadronic and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies to O(α3s)

We present results on rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of inclusive charm quark production in hadronic and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies, including the next-to-leading order, O(α3s), radiative corrections and the nuclear shadowing effect. We determine the hadronic and the effective (in-medium) K-factor for the differential and total inclusive charm cross sections. We show that these K-factors have strong pT dependence. We discuss how measurements of charm production at RHIC and LHC can provide valuable information about the gluon density in a nucleus. (orig.)