The QCD pomeron in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions : II. Heavy quark production

Abstract

The heavy quark production in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions is investigated, with particular emphasis on the results from the coherent interactions given by the two-photon process. One addresses the heavy quark total cross sections at photon level considering the saturation model and the BFKL dynamics in the color dipole picture. The corresponding cross sections at nuclear level are presented. It is verified that the QCD dynamics implies an enhancement of the cross section in comparison with previous calculations.