Study of correlation effects in high-multiplicity proton-proton reactions at 12 and 24 GeV/c

In this paper we study correlations in multiparticle final states from pp interactions at 12 and 24 GeV/c. In an attempt to distinguish true dynamical correlations from the consequences of kinematics together with P_T damping and the leading-particle effect, we compare the data with an independent-emission model which reproduces the single-particle spectra and also with a model that simulates a fragmentation mechanism. We investigate the forward-backward particle configurations and in particular the multiplicity imbalance and charge transfer, defining forward-backward by the largest rapidity gap as well as simply by c.m.s. hemispheres. We also study clustering by looking at distributions of the dispersions in longitudinal rapidity. From the comparison of the data with the models we find clear evidence for dynamical correlations of a sort one would expect from fragmentation-type mechanisms. We also find indications of non-fragmentation formation of neutral meson clusters.