Target mass dependence of charged particle multiplicity inp-nucleus interactions

The shower particle multiplicity (〈n _s 〉) in thep-nucleus interactions for different targets, in the incident energy range of ～6–500 GeV has been studied. The variation of multiplicity parameters with target mass (A) or with number of interactions that the incident hadron suffers inside the nucleus (v _A ) and with the changed particle multiplicity inp-p interactions (〈n _ch〉) has been examined in the light of the various models of multiparticle production. The present analysis favours the hydrodynamical model though some other models can not be conclusively ruled out.