An intrinsic quark model of heavy-flavour production

A model for the production of heavy-flavoured particles is presented, based on the scattering of intrinsic heavy quarks. Structure functions are calculated using QCD perturbation theory which are consistent with the dimensional counting rules and include off-mass-shell effects. The quark-hadron cross sections are deduced from additivity and the f dominance of the Pomeron coupling hypothesis. The probability that after scattering the quarks recombine to form heavy-flavoured hadrons is estimated. It is shown that the model accounts successfully for the data on strangeness and charm production, is consistent with bottom production and even gives quite a good fit to the total inelastic cross section. It is used to predict the cross sections for producing t and heavier quarks, both centrally and diffractively. (author)