Precise charm-quark mass from deep-inelastic scattering

We present a determination of the charm-quark mass in the (MS) over bar scheme using the data combination of charm production cross section measurements in deep-inelastic scattering at HERA. The framework of global analyses of the proton structure accounts for all correlations of the charm-quark mass with the other non-perturbative parameters, most importantly the gluon distribution function in the proton and the strong coupling constant alpha(s)(Mz). We obtain at next-to-leading order in QCD the value m(c)(m(c))=1.15 +/- 0.04(exp)(-0.00)(+0.04)(scale) GeV and at approximate next-to-next-to-leading order m(c)(m(c))=1.24 +/- 0.03(exp)(-0.02)(+0.03)(scale)(-0.07)(+0.00)(theory) GeV with an accuracy competitive with other methods. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.