On the intrinsic charm and the recombination mechanisms in charm hadron production

We study $\Lambda_c^\pm$ production in $pN$ and $\pi^-N$ interactions. Recent experimental data from the SELEX and E791 Collaborations at FNAL provide important information on the production mechanism of charm hadrons. In particular, the production of the $\Lambda_c$ baryon provides a good test of the intrinsic charm and the recombination mechanisms, which have been proposed to explain the so called leading particle effects.