Inclusive D*± meson cross sections and D*±-jet correlations in photoproduction at HERA

Differential photoproduction cross sections are measured for events containing D^*± mesons. The data were taken with the H1 detector at the ep collider HERA and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 51.1 pb^-1. The kinematic region covers small photon virtualities Q² < 0.01 GeV² and photon–proton centre-of-mass energies of 171 < W_γ p < 256 GeV. The details of the heavy quark production process are further investigated in events with one or two jets in addition to the D^*± meson. Differential cross sections for D^*+jet production are determined and the correlations between the D^*± meson and the jet(s) are studied. The results are compared with perturbative QCD predictions applying collinear- or k_t-factorisation.