A study of 205-GeV/c π−p interactions has been made with a 48 800-picture exposure in the bare Fermilab 30-inch hydrogen bubble chamber. The average number of charged particles produced per inelastic interaction is 7.99±0.06. The elastic cross section is 3.18±0.13 mb and the total cross section is 24.19±0.44 mb. The inclusive cross sections for neutral-particle production are: σ(γ)=171.3±15.3 mb, σ(KS0)=3.64±0.61 mb (x<0.3), σ(Λ)=1.71±0.34 mb (x<0.3), and σ(Λ¯)=0.59±0.23 mb (x<0.1). The average number of π0's produced per inelastic collision is consistent with a linear rise with the number of charged particles, and about equal to the number of produced π− or π+. The average number of K0's, Λ's, and Λ¯'s is consistent with very little dependence on the number of charged particles. General characteristics of neutral-particle production are presented and compared with other experiments. For each topology the produced neutral energy is ∼13 of the incident energy.
In 205 GeV / c π − p inelastic interactions, negative particles with transverse momentum greater than 1.0 GeV / c moving forward in the center of mass outnumber similar positive particles by a factor of 3.7 to 1, greatly in excess of the corresponding ratio for small transverse momentum. The asymmetry is reversed in the backward direction. The forward asymmetry is most prominent in 2-, 4-, and 6-prong interactions, but both forward and backward asymmetries are also substantial for higher multiplicity interactions.
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