Charm photoproduction at HERA: kt-factorization versus experimental data

Abstract

We calculate the cross section of charm photoproduction at HERA collider in the framework of the kt-factorization QCD approach. Our analysis cover the inclusive charm production as well as charm and associated jet production processes. Both photon-gluon and gluon-gluon fusion mechanisms are taken into account. The unintegrated gluon densities in a proton and in a photon obtained from the full CCFM, from unified BFKL-DGLAP evolution equations as well as from the Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription are used. Our theoretical results are compared with the recent experimental data taken by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations at HERA. Special attention is put on the specific angular correlations which can provide unique information about non-collinear gluon evolution dynamics.