Inclusive D∗-meson production in ep scattering at low Q2 in the GM-VFN scheme at NLO

We have calculated the next-to-leading order cross sections for the inclusive production of D∗-mesons in ep collisions at HERA for finite, although very small Q2. In this Q2-range, the same approximations as for photoproduction can be used. Our calculation is performed in the general-mass variable-flavour-number scheme. In this approach, large logarithms of the charm transverse momentum are resummed and finite terms depending on m2/pT2 are kept in the hard scattering cross sections. The theoretical results are compared with recent data from the ZEUS Collaboration at HERA. On average, we find good agreement.