D*±production in 250 GeVπ±Ninteractions

We report results from Fermilab experiment E769 on the differential cross sections of $D^{*\pm }$ charm vector mesons with respect to Feynman-$x$ ($x_F$) and transverse momentum ($P_T$), and on the atomic mass dependence of the production. The $D^{*}$ mesons were produced by a 250 GeV $\pi$ beam on a target of Be, Al, Cu, and W foils. The $\frac{d\sigma }{d{x}_F}$ distribution is fit by the form (${(1-x_F)}^n$) with $n=3.5\mathrm{}\pm 0.3\pm 0.1$, the $\frac{d\sigma }{d{P}_T^2}$ distribution by $\exp (-b\times P_T^2)$ with $b=0.70\mathrm{}\pm 0.07\pm 0.04$ ${\mathrm{GeV}}^{-2\mathrm{}}$, and the cross section $A$ dependence by $A^{\alpha }$ with $\alpha =1.00\mathrm{}\pm 0.07\pm 0.02$. These results are compared to the equivalent parameters for the production of pseudoscalar $D^0$ and $D^{\pm }$ charm mesons.