Single Diffractive Lambda_c^+ Production in Polarized pp Scattering with Polarized Gluon Distribution in the Proton

Abstract

Based on the hard-scattering factorization which decomposes the diffractive structure function into a pomeron flux and a pomeron structure function, we study the single diffractive Lambda_c^+ production in polarized pp scattering: p + p -> p + Lambda_c^+ + X, which will be observed at forthcoming RHIC experiment. By analyzing the cross section and correlation of the spin polarization between the initial proton and produced Lambda_c^+, we found that the process is quite effective for testing both hard-scattering factorization and models of the polarized gluon distribution in the proton.