Data on multiplicities of charged particles produced in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon are presented. It is shown that the mean multiplicity of negative particles is proportional to the mean number of nucleons participating in the collision both for nucleus-nucleus and proton-nucleus collisions. The apparent consistency of pion multiplicity data with the assumption of an incoherent superposition of nucleon-nucleon collisions is critically discussed.
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We present the first direct measurements of charged-particle multiplicity distributions for pp collisions at ISR energies. The measurements are performed by means of a streamer chamber detector with large solid-angle coverage and excellent multitrack efficiency. Particle densities are observed to rise in the central region as s increases. The multiplicity distributions in this region deviate from a Poisson Law, thus giving evidence for correlations. These correlations are of the same type as those obtained from clustering of the collision products. The mean charged multiplicity over the full rapidity range increases faster than log s . Our data do not support an early onset of KNO multiplicity scaling.
Measurements of charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are presented. These are compared with data at lower and higher energies as well as with results from p+p interactions. The mean pion multiplicity per wounded nucleon increases approximately linearly with s_NN^1/4 with a change of slope starting in the region 15-40 AGeV. The change from pion suppression with respect to p+p interactions, as observed at low collision energies, to pion enhancement at high energies occurs at about 40 AGeV. A non-monotonic energy dependence of the ratio of K^+ to pi^+ yields is observed, with a maximum close to 40 AGeV and an indication of a nearly constant value at higher energies.The measured dependences may be related to an increase of the entropy production and a decrease of the strangeness to entropy ratio in central Pb+Pb collisions in the low SPS energy range, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a transient state of deconfined matter is created above these energies. Other interpretations of the data are also discussed.
Measurements of charged particle multiplicity distributions in the central rapidity region in p-p and p-α, and α-α collisions are reported. They are better fitted to the “wounded nucleon” than to the “gluon string” model. The average transverse momenta, for all three reactions, are identical (and almost independent of multiplicity) up to very high multiplicities.
Measurements of the midrapidity transverse energy distribution, $d\Et/d\eta$, are presented for $p$$+$$p$, $d$$+$Au, and Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV and additionally for Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ and 130 GeV. The $d\Et/d\eta$ distributions are first compared with the number of nucleon participants $N_{\rm part}$, number of binary collisions $N_{\rm coll}$, and number of constituent-quark participants $N_{qp}$ calculated from a Glauber model based on the nuclear geometry. For Au$+$Au, $\mean{d\Et/d\eta}/N_{\rm part}$ increases with $N_{\rm part}$, while $\mean{d\Et/d\eta}/N_{qp}$ is approximately constant for all three energies. This indicates that the two component ansatz, $dE_{T}/d\eta \propto (1-x) N_{\rm part}/2 + x N_{\rm coll}$, which has been used to represent $E_T$ distributions, is simply a proxy for $N_{qp}$, and that the $N_{\rm coll}$ term does not represent a hard-scattering component in $E_T$ distributions. The $dE_{T}/d\eta$ distributions of Au$+$Au and $d$$+$Au are then calculated from the measured $p$$+$$p$ $E_T$ distribution using two models that both reproduce the Au$+$Au data. However, while the number-of-constituent-quark-participant model agrees well with the $d$$+$Au data, the additive-quark model does not.
Neutral-pion production in pp interactions has been studied using 8000 photon conversions in the Fermilab 15-ft bubble chamber. Inclusive π0 multiplicity moments and ππ correlation integrals are presented; f200 is determined to be + 3.0±0.8. For the semi-inclusive π0 multiplicity distributions we find 〈n(π0)〉n− to increase with n−, while the dispersions are n− independent. Results on f2−0, f200, and f2,n−00 are compared to predictions of simple cluster models.
Inclusive K0K¯0, Λ0, and Λ¯0 cross sections have been determined using a 292-event/mb exposure of the hydrogen-filled 15-foot bubble chamber at Fermilab. From the invariant-mass distributions of V0π± pairs we find that σ(K*±(890))=4.4±1.4 mb, σ(Σ*±(1385))=0.54±0.40 mb, and σ(Σ¯*±(1385))=0.45±0.34 mb. It is estimated that 0.32 ± 0.11 of K0K¯0's, 0.21 ± 0.16 of Λ's, and 0.96 ± 0.75 of Λ¯'s originate from decays of K*(890) and Σ*(1385), respectively.
The charged particle production in proton-proton collisions is studied with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s} =7}$TeV in different intervals of pseudorapidity $\eta$. The charged particles are reconstructed close to the interaction region in the vertex detector, which provides high reconstruction efficiency in the $\eta$ ranges $-2.5<\eta<-2.0$ and $2.0<\eta<4.5$. The data were taken with a minimum bias trigger, only requiring one or more reconstructed tracks in the vertex detector. By selecting an event sample with at least one track with a transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c a hard QCD subsample is investigated. Several event generators are compared with the data; none are able to describe fully the multiplicity distributions or the charged particle density distribution as a function of $\eta$. In general, the models underestimate the charged particle production.
The Split Field Magnet facility at the CERN ISR has been used to measure inclusive resonance production in inelastic p-p collisions at a c.m. energy of 53 GeV. The mass spectrum of pairs of oppositely charged hadrons shows a strong correlation, which can be explained as a consequence of dominant vector meson production, accounting for more than 60% of all pions and kaons produced.
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