$D^{*\pm}$ production in 350 GeV/c $\pi^{-}$-N interactions

We report measurements of ${\rm D}^{*\pm}$ production in interactions between $350\,{\rm GeV/}c$ $\pi^-$ particles and nuclei. Reconstruction of the decay ${\rm D}^{*+} \rightarrow {\rm D}^0 \pi^+$ and charge conjugate, with ${\rm D}^0$ identified via its decays to ${\rm K}^- \pi^+$ and ${\rm K}^- \pi^- \pi^+ \pi^+ $, has allowed isolation of a sample of $611\pm28$ ${\rm D}^{*\pm}$ mesons, produced at positive $x_F$. Assuming a linear A-dependence, the cross-section per nucleon in the region $x_F > 0$ is measured to be $1.41\pm0.10\pm0.11~\mu$b for ${\rm D}^{*+}$ and $1.84\pm0.12\pm0.15~\mu$b for ${\rm D}^{*-}$. We present measurements of differential cross-sections with respect to $x_F$ and ${P_t}^2$, and compare data for ${\rm D}^{*\pm}$ (vector-meson) production with data for production of charmed pseudoscalar mesons.