Single inclusive pion pT-spectra in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 22.4GeV: data versus perturbative QCD calculations

We compare the inclusive transverse momentum spectra of single pions above pT = 3 GeV/c measured in proton-proton (p-p) collisions at sqrt(s) = 21.7 - 23.8 GeV, with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) predictions using recent parametrizations of the parton densities and parton-to-pion fragmentation functions. Although the dependence on the theoretical scales is large, the calculations can reproduce the experimental results both in magnitude and shape. Based on the existing data and on a pQCD $\sqrt{s}$-rescaling of the measured spectra, we provide a practical parametrization of the baseline p-p pion transverse momentum spectrum to be compared to nucleus-nucleus collisions data at sqrt(s_NN) = 22.4 GeV.