Diffractive $J/\psi$ photoproduction as a probe of the gluon density

We use perturbative QCD, beyond the leading $\ln Q^2$ approximation, to show how measurements of diffractive $J/\psi$ production at HERA can provide a sensitive probe of the gluon density of the proton at small values of Bjorken $x$. We estimate both the effect of the relativistic motion of the $c$ and $\overline{c}$ within the $J/\psi$ and of the rescattering of the $c\overline{c}$ quark pair on the proton. We find that the available data for diffractive $J/\psi$ photoproduction can discriminate between the gluon distributions of the most recent sets of partons.