D*(+/-) production in 350 GeV/c pi(-)-N interactions

We report measurements of D*+/- production in interactions between 350GeV/c pi(-) particles and nuclei. Reconstruction of the decay D*+ --> D(0)pi(+) and charge conjugate, with D-0 identified via its decays to K(-)pi(+) and K(-)pi(-)pi(+)pi(+), has allowed isolation of a sample of 611 +/- 28 D*+/- mesons, produced at positive x(F). Assuming a linear A-dependence, the cross- section per nucleon in the region x(F) > 0 is measured to be 1.41 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.11 mu b for D*+ and 1.84 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.15 mu b for D*-. We present measurements of differential cross-sections with respect to x(F) and P-t(2), and compare data for D*+/- (vector-meson) production with data for production of charmed pseudoscalar mesons. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.