We have measured cross sections for forward neutron production from a variety of targets using proton beams from the Fermilab Main Injector. Measurements were performed for proton beam momenta of 58 GeV/c, 84 GeV/c, and 120 GeV/c. The cross section dependence on the atomic weight (A) of the targets was found to vary as $A^(alpha)$ where $\alpha$ is $0.46\pm0.06$ for a beam momentum of 58 GeV/c and 0.54$\pm$0.05 for 120 GeV/c. The cross sections show reasonable agreement with FLUKA and DPMJET Monte Carlos. Comparisons have also been made with the LAQGSM Monte Carlo.
We present data from Fermilab experiment E781 (SELEX) on the hadroproduction asymmetry for anti-Lambda_c compared to Lambda_c+ as a function of xF and pt2 distributions for Lambda_c+. These data were measured in the same apparatus using incident pi-, sigma- beams at 600 GeV/c and proton beam at 540 GeV/c. The asymmetry is studied as a function of xF. In the forward hemisphere with xF >= 0.2 both baryon beams exhibit very strong preference for producing charm baryons rather than charm antibaryons, while the pion beam asymmetry is much smaller. In this energy regime the results show that beam fragments play a major role in the kinematics of Lambda_c formation, as suggested by the leading quark picture.
We have used the Fermilab 30-in. bubble-chamber-hybrid spectrometer to study neutral-strange-particle production in the interactions of 200-GeV/c protons and π+ and K+ mesons with nuclei of gold, silver, and magnesium. Average multiplicities and inclusive cross sections for K0 and Λ are measured, and a power law is found to give a good description of their A dependence. The exponent characterizing the A dependence is consistent with being the same for K0 and Λ production, and also the same for proton and π+ beams. Average K0 and Λ multiplicities, as well as their ratio, have been measured as functions of the numbers of projectile collisions νp and secondary collisions νs in the nucleus, and indicate that rescattering contributes significantly to enhancement of Λ production but not to K0 production. The properties of events with multiple K0's or Λ's also corroborate this conclusion. K0 rapidities are in the central region and decrease gently with increasing νp, while Λ rapidities are in the target-fragmentation region and are independent of νp. K0 and Λ multiplicities increase with the rapidity loss of the projectile, but their rapidities do not.
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