GLUON FRAGMENTATION INTO P-WAVE HEAVY QUARKONIUM

The fragmentation functions for gluons to split into P-wave heavy quarkonium states are calculated to leading order in the QCD coupling constant. Long-distance effects are factored into two nonperturbative parameters: the derivative of the radial wave function at the origin and a second parameter related to the probability for a heavy-quark-antiquark pair that is produced in a color-octet S-wave state to form a color-singlet P-wave bound state. The fragmentation probabilities for a high transverse momentum gluon to split into the P-wave charmonium states chi(c0), chi(c1), and chi(c2) are estimated to be 0.4 x 10(-4), 1.8 x 10(-4), and 2.4 x 10(-4), respectively. This fragmentation process may account for a significant fraction of the rate for the inclusive production of chi(cJ) at large transverse momentum in pp $($) over bar$$ colliders.