QCD CORRECTIONS TO HEAVY FLAVOR PHOTOPRODUCTION AND ELECTROPRODUCTION

We investigate the QCD corrections to the total cross sections and single-particle inclusive differential distributions for gamma + p --> Q(QBAR) + X and e + p --> e + Q(QBAR) + X. In the latter reaction we assume that the exchanged photon is almost real (Weizsacker-Williams approximation). This requires the calculation of the O(alpha(S)) corrections to the photon-parton reaction gamma + g --> Q + QBAR including the virtual gluon contributions and the soft and hard gluon radiation in the reaction gamma + g --> Q + QBAR + g. The contributions from gamma + q(qBAR) --> Q + QBAR + q(qBAR) are also calculated. We give exact results for the O(alpha-2-alpha(S)2) total cross sections and single particle inclusive differential distributions for b-quark production at HERA. Results for b- and t-production at future ep colliders (the LEP * LHC option at CERN) are also presented.