We study the inclusive hadroproduction of $D^0$, $D^{+}$, $D^{*+}$, and $D_s^{+}$ mesons at next-to-leading order in the parton model of quantum chromodynamics endowed with universal nonperturbative fragmentation functions fitted to $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ annihilation data from CERN LEP1. Working in the general-mass variable-flavor-number scheme, we resum the large logarithms through the evolution of the fragmentation functions and, at the same time, retain the full dependence on the charm-quark mass without additional theoretical assumptions. In this way, the cross section distributions in transverse momentum recently measured by the CDF Collaboration in run II at the Fermilab Tevatron are described within errors.

• Received 11 August 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.012001