Searching for intrinsic charm in the proton at the LHC

Despite rather long-term theoretical and experimental study, the hypothesis of the non-zero intrinsic (or valence-like) heavy quark component of the proton distribution functions has not yet been confirmed or rejected. The LHC with pp-collisions at root s = 7-14 TeV will obviously supply extra unique information concerning the above-mentioned component of the proton. To use the LHC potential, first of all, one should select the parton-level (sub)processes (and final-state signatures) that are the most sensitive to the intrinsic heavy quark contributions. To this end inclusive production of c(b)-jets accompanied by photons is considered. On the basis of performed theoretical study it is demonstrated that investigation of the intrinsic heavy quark contributions looks very promising at the LHC in processes like pp -> gamma + c(b)+ X. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.