Transverse momenta of helium fragments in gold fragmentation at 10.6 GeV/nucleon

The transverse momentum (p_t) distributions of helium fragments from gold fragmentation on different nuclei of nuclear emulsion have been measured and a clear increase of average p _t with target mass is seen. The p _t distributions can be parameterized by a sum of three exponential functions of the form $\sim {\rm exp}(-p_{t}^{2}/B_{i})$ . The differences in p _t distributions in interactions on different targets can be explained by different contributions of the three exponential functions. These contributions depend on the projectile breakup in the collision, and for a given degree of the projectile breakup do not depend on the target mass.     

Azimuthal correlations of secondary particles in collisions between gold nuclei and track-emulsion nuclei at a gold-nucleus energy of 10.6 GeV per nucleon

Charged secondaries from collisions of gold nuclei with track-emulsion nuclei showed azimuthal correlations consisting in (i) the asymmetric emission of projectile and target fragments in opposite directions and (ii) an azimuthal quasicollinearity of shower particles in individual events. The measurement errors were investigated and taken into account. The experimental data in question can be interpreted within the model of Gaussian distributions of transverse momentum components.     

Yields and transverse momenta of the 6Li fragments in the emulsion at 4.5 GeV/c per nucleon

We present the results of the study of interaction of the relativistic ⁶Li nucleus with the momentum 4.5 GeV/c per nucleon with the photoemulsion. Yields of the ¹H (³He) and ²H (⁴He) isotopes due to the fragmentation of ⁶Li are found to be almost equal. Cross sections for the charge exchange and pickup reactions are found to be σ_exch=9±2 mb. The distributions of the fragment transverse momenta projected onto the emulsion plane are used to obtain the nucleon Fermi momentum of ⁶Li, P_F, this value being equal to 129±8 MeV/c. The high momentum component in the transverse momentum distributions of ³He and ⁴He isotopes is observed. Received: 4 August 1997     

The transverse-energy distributions of 32S-nucleus collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon

Transverse-energy distributions have been measured for the collisions of the ³²S nucleus with Al, Ag, W, Pt, Pb, and U target nuclei, at an incident energy of 200 GeV per nucleon. The shapes of these distribution reflect the geometry of the collisions, including the deformation effects. For central collisions, the transverse-energy production in the region −0.1<η_lab<2.9 increases approximately as A^0.5, where A is the atomic mass number of the target. This increase is accompanied by a relative depletion in the forward region η_lab > 2.9. These results are compared with those obtained under similar conditions with incident ¹⁶O nuclei. A comparison is also made with the predictions of a Monte Carlo generator based on the dual parton model. Finally, we give estimates of the energy density reached and its dependence on the atomic mass number of the projectile.     

Measurement of multiplicity distributions in oxygen-tungsten collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon

Multiplicity distributions of charged particles have been measured in the pseudorapidity region 0.9 <η _lab < 4.9 for oxygen-tungsten collisions at an incident energy of 200 GeV per nucleon. The multiplicity cross-sectiondσ/dN as measured in the backward hemisphere (0.9 <η _lab < 2.9) is found to be very similar in shape to the transverse energy distributiondσ/dE _T published previously by this group, reflecting the particular geometry of nucleus-nucleus collisions. Pseudorapidity distributionsdN/dη are presented and their dependence onE _T is discussed. The average transverse energy per charged particle is studied versusE _T and is found to be constant within our systematic error of approximately 10%.     

Interactions of relativistic nitrogen nuclei in an emulsion at 2.1 GeV/nucleon

An analysis of multiple production induced by 2.1 GeV/n ¹⁴N ions in nuclear emulsions is presented. Multiplicity and angular distributions of charged secondaries and correlations among them are discussed. The presented data are compared with relevant values from proton-nucleus interactions. The possible appearence of collective phenomena in nucleus-nucleus interactions is discussed.     

Transverse energy per charged particle at relativistic energies from a statistical model with expansion

Transverse-energy and charged-particle pseudorapidity densities at midrapidity and their ratio, dE_T/d|_mid/dN_ch/d|_mid, are evaluated in a statistical model with longitudinal and transverse flows for the wide range of colliders, from AGS to RHIC at = 200 GeV. Evaluations are done at freeze-out parameters obtained from independent fits to observed particle yields and p_T spectra. Decays of hadron resonances are treated thoroughly and are included in derivations of dE_T/d|_mid and dN_ch/d|_mid. The predictions of the model agree well with the experimental data. However, some (explicable) overestimation of the ratio has been observed.     

Azimuthal correlations of projectile and target fragments in collisions between gold nuclei of energy 10.6 GeV per nucleon and emulsion nuclei

Intra-and intergroup azimuthal correlations of projectile and target fragments are found in collisions between gold and emulsion nuclei. The statistical significance of these correlations is high. The methodological distortions associated with the measurement errors are investigated in detail and are taken into account.     

Fission and fragmentation of 208Pb nuclei in collisions with gold nuclei at an energy of 158 GeV per nucleon

The fission and fragmentation of ultrarelativistic ²⁰⁸Pb nuclei in collisionswith gold nuclei were studied by using a beam from the SPS accelerator at CERN at an energy of 158 GeV per nucleon. The detectors of the target area of the NA45/CERES spectrometer were used in respective measurements. The value obtained for the fission cross section is 301 ± 44 mb, where about 77% of events stem from the electromagnetic interaction of colliding nuclei, while the remaining part is the contribution of peripheral nuclear interactions. The spallation of lead nuclei that involves the formation of heavy fragments occurs only in collisions where the impact parameter satisfies the condition b > 10 fm. A complete disintegration of lead nuclei to intermediate-mass fragments and light particles is observed in some peripheral collisions.     

Yields of nuclear fragments in the interactions of carbon nuclei with a beryllium target at a projectile energy of 0.6 GeV per nucleon

The yields of long-lived nuclear fragments at an angle of 3.5° that originate fromthe fragmentation of carbon ions with an energy of T₀ = 0.6 GeV per nucleon on a berylliumtarget were measured in the FRAGMexperiment at the ITEP TWA heavy-ion accelerator. The momentum spectra of these fragments cover both the fragmentation-maximum region and the cumulative region. The respective differential cross sections change by about five orders of magnitude. The momentum distributions of fragments in the laboratory frame and their kinetic-energy distributions in the rest frame of the fragmenting nucleus are used to test the predictions of four models of ion–ion interactions: BC, INCL++, LAQGSM03.03, and QMD.     

Neutron emission in interactions of 1H, 2H, 4He, and 12C nuclei with lead nuclei at 1–2 GeV per nucleon

The double differential cross sections for neutron production that were measured by the time-of-flight method for interactions of 2-GeV p and d, 4-GeV ⁴He, and 24-GeV ¹²C with Pb nuclei are discussed. In the phenomenological model of four moving sources, the neutron energy distribution shape at emission angles above 30° is well reproduced with the temperature parameters for all sources that are almost independent of the type and the energy of incident nuclei. Using the developed model, we estimate the mean neutron multiplicity and the energy removed by neutron emission.     

Interaction of gold nuclei with photoemulsion nuclei at energies in the range 100–1200 MeV per nucleon and cascade-evaporation model

The interaction of gold nuclei with photoemulsion nuclei at energies in the range 100–1200 MeV per nucleon was studied experimentally. A consistent comparison of the experimental data obtained in this way with the results of the calculations based on the cascade-evaporation model is performed.     

Measurement of cumulative-photon spectra at high transverse momenta in 12C9Be interactions at an energy of 3.2 GeV per nucleon

For ¹²C⁹Be interactions at a kinetic beam energy of 3.2 GeV per nucleon, the spectra of photons at laboratory angles in the range 55°–73° were measured off the kinematical region available to the interaction of single nucleons within colliding nuclei. The use of a fast trigger for selecting events involving the production of high-transverse-momentum photons made it possible to measure spectra off the kinematical boundary of four-nucleon interaction. It is shown that the proposed procedure is adequate to the problem of searches for and investigation of flucton-flucton interaction. In the kinematical region where flucton-flucton interaction can manifest itself, the cross sections in question are on the same order of magnitude as respective model predictions. In order to draw definitive conclusions on the role of flucton-flucton interaction, it is highly desirable to extend the angular range of the measurements toward smaller angles.     

Charged particle production in proton-, deuteron-, oxygen- and sulphur-nucleus collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon

The transverse momentum and rapidity distributions of net protons and negatively charged hadrons have been measured for minimum bias proton–nucleus and deuteron–gold interactions, as well as central oxygen–gold and sulphur–nucleus collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon. The rapidity density of net protons at midrapidity in central nucleus–nucleus collisions increases both with target mass for sulphur projectiles and with the projectile mass for a gold target. The shape of the rapidity distributions of net protons forward of midrapidity for d+Au and central S+Au collisions is similar. The average rapidity loss is larger than 2 units of rapidity for reactions with the gold target. The transverse momentum spectra of net protons for all reactions can be described by a thermal distribution with ‘temperatures’ between MeV (p+S interactions) and MeV (central S+Au collisions). The multiplicity of negatively charged hadrons increases with the mass of the colliding system. The shape of the transverse momentum spectra of negatively charged hadrons changes from minimum bias p+p and p+S interactions to p+Au and central nucleus-nucleus collisions. The mean transverse momentum is almost constant in the vicinity of midrapidity and shows little variation with the target and projectile masses. The average number of produced negatively charged hadrons per participant baryon increases slightly from p+p, p+A to central S+S,Ag collisions. Received: 28 October 1997 / Published online: 10 March 1998     

Peripheral fragmentation of 8B nuclei in nuclear emulsion at an energy of 1.2 GeV per nucleon

The results obtained by studying the charge topology of fragments produced in the peripheral dissociation of relativistic ⁸B nuclei in emulsion are presented. Fifty-five events of the peripheral dissociation of a ⁸B nucleus in events where there was no production of target-nucleus fragments and mesons (“white stars”) were selected. A leading contribution of the ⁸B → ⁷Be + p mode, which has the lowest energy threshold, was revealed on the basis of these events. Information about the branching ratios for dissociation modes characterized by a higher multiplicity was obtained. The dissociation of the ⁷Be core in ⁸B bears resemblance to the dissociation of a free ⁷Be nucleus. The transverse-momentum distributions of fragments originating from the ⁸B → ⁷Be + p dissociation mode were obtained. For these distributions, a small mean value of 〈P*_T〉 = 52 ± 5 MeV/c in the c.m. frame suggests a low binding energy of the outer proton in the ⁸B nucleus. An indication of a strong azimuthal correlation of the fragments ⁷Be and p was found.     

An investigation of intermittency in proton-gold, oxygen-gold, sulphur-gold and sulphur-sulphur interactions at 200 GeV per nucleon

The intermittency phenomenon is investigated in proton-gold, oxygen-gold, sulphur-gold and sulphur-sulphur collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon. The data were taken with the NA 35 streamer chamber detector at the CERN SPS. The data samples are carefully corrected for double counting of tracks and for contamination from photon conversions, particle decays and secondary interactions. The analysis is carried out in terms of factorial moments, using a new definition, and of correlation integrals. Both methods show the presence of nonstatistical fluctuations (intermittency). The main conclusions are: The observation of the effect for pairs of hadrons with negative charges and its near absence for pairs of opposite charges is consistent with the assumption that Bose-Einstein correlations yield the dominant contribution. The intermittency effect is not proportional to (dn/dy)^–1 which would be expected in superposition models. The measured relation between the second and third factorial moment for negative hadrons indicates that genuine 3-particle correlations are small. The predictions of a Monte Carlo simulation which is based on the Lund Fritiof model with the inclusion of Bose-Einstein correlations agree with the experimental results.Deceased     

Target fragments in collisions of 1.8 GeV/nucleon Fe nuclei with photoemulsion nuclei, and the cascade-evaporation model

Nuclear photographic emulsion is used to study the dependence of the characteristics of target-nucleus fragments on the masses and impact parameters of interacting nuclei. The data obtained are compared in all details with the calculation results made in terms of the Dubna version of the cascade-evaporation model (DCM).     

Intra- and intergroup azimuthal correlations of particles in the interaction of gold nuclei with silver and bromine nuclei of track emulsions at the projectile energy of 10.6 GeV per nucleon

Inter- and intragroup azimuthal correlations of target and projectile fragments and of shower particles in the interactions between gold nuclei of energy 10.6 GeV per nucleon and silver and bromine nuclei of a track emulsion are studied at intermediate values of the impact parameter. The asymmetry index β′₁ and the collinearity index β′₂ of groups’ asymmetry vectors are used to study azimuthal correlations between two and three groups of particles. The interplay of effects of intra- and intergroup azimuthal particle correlations is investigated.