Measurement of the b-Hadron Production Cross Section Using Decays to mu- D0X Final States in p anti-p Collisions at s**(1/2) =1.96 TeV

We report a measurement of the production cross section for b hadrons in p anti-p collisions at s**(1/2) =1.96 TeV. Using a data sample derived from an integrated luminosity 83 pb-1 collected with the upgraded Collider Detector (CDF II) at the Fermilab Tevatron, we analyze b hadrons, H_b, partially reconstructed in the semileptonic decay mode H_b --> mu-D0 X. Our measurement of the inclusive production cross section for b hadrons with transverse momentum p(t) > 9 GeV/c and rapi+dity |y| < 0.6 is sigma 1.30 mu b +/- 0.05 pb (stat) +/- 0.14 mu b (syst) +/- 0.07 mu b(B), where the uncertainities are statistical, systematic, and from branching fractions respectively. The differential cross sections d sigma/dp(t) are found to be in good agreement with recent measurements of the H_b cross section and well described by fixed-order next-to-leading logarithm predictions.