Heavy-quark production in proton-nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC

A sizable rate of events, with several pairs of heavy quarks produced contemporarily by multiple parton interactions, may be expected at very high energies as a consequence of the large parton luminosities. The production rates are enhanced in hadron-nucleus reactions, which may represent a convenient tool to study the phenomenon. We compare the different contributions to $b\overline{b}b\overline{b},$ $c\overline{c}c\overline{c},$ and $b\overline{b}c\overline{c}$ production due to single- and double-parton scatterings, in collisions of protons with nuclei at the CERN LHC.