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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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.
We describe a cone-based jet finding algorithm (similar to that used in\(\bar p\)p experiments), which we have applied to hadronic events recorded using the OPAL detector at LEP. Comparisons are made between jets defined with the cone algorithm and jets found by the “JADE” and “Durham” jet finders usually used ine+e− experiments. Measured jet rates, as a function of the cone size and as a function of the minimum jet energy, have been compared with O(αs2) calculations, from which two complementary measurements\(\alpha _s \left( {M_{Z^0 } } \right)\) have been made. The results are\(\alpha _s \left( {M_{Z^0 } } \right)\)=0.116±0.008 and\(\alpha _s \left( {M_{Z^0 } } \right)\)=0.119±0.008 respectively, where the errors include both experimental and theoretical uncertainties. Measurements are presented of the energy flow inside jets defined using the cone algorithm, and compared with equivalent data from\(\bar p\)p interactions, reported by the CDF collaboration. We find that the jets ine+e− are significantly narrower than those observed in\(\bar p\)p. The main contribution to this effect appears to arise from differences between quark- and gluon-induced jets.
Phi meson production is studied by the NA49 collaboration in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A, 30A, 40A, 80A and 158A GeV beam energy. The data are compared to measurements at lower and higher energies and to microscopic and thermal models. The energy dependence of yields and spectral distributions is compatible with the assumption that partonic degrees of freedom set in at low SPS energies.
Yields and phase space distributions of φ -mesons emitted from p+p (minimum bias trigger), p+Pb (at various centralities) and central Pb+Pb collisions are reported ( E beam =158 A GeV). The decay φ →K + K − was used for identification. The φ / π ratio is found to increase by a factor of 3.0±0.7 from inelastic p+p to central Pb+Pb. Significant enhancement in this ratio is also observed in subclasses of p+p events (characterized by high charged-particle multiplicity) as well as in the forward hemisphere of central p+Pb collisions. In Pb+Pb no shift or significant broadening of the φ -peak is seen.
Results on charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A and 30A GeV are presented and compared to data at lower and higher energies. A rapid change of the energy dependence is observed around 30A GeV for the yields of pions and kaons as well as for the shape of the transverse mass spectra. The change is compatible with the prediction that the threshold for production of a state of deconfined matter at the early stage of the collisions is located at low SPS energies.
We present a study of the structure of hadronic events recorded by the L3 detector at LEP at the center of mass energies of 161 and 172 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 21.25 pb −1 collected during the high energy runs of 1996. The distributions of event shape variables and the energy dependence of their mean values are well reproduced by QCD models. From a comparison of the data with resummed O ( α s 2 ) QCD calculations, we determine the strong coupling constant at the two energies. Combining this with our earlier measurements we find that the strong coupling constant decreases with increasing energy as expected in QCD.
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.
Charged- and neutral-particle production from 400-GeV/c pp collisions are measured simultaneously using the Fermilab 15-ft bubble chamber. The π0 and K0 cross sections are rising at Fermilab energies, while the Λ0 cross section remains fairly constant. Similarly, the average number of π0's and K0's increases as a function of the number of negative particles in an event, yet no such dependence is noted for the Λ0's. The ratio of average number of π0 to average number of π− per inelastic collisions is found to be constant at Serpukhov and Fermilab energies (40 to 400 GeV/c) and equal to 1.22±0.02. Cross sections for Σ0 and Σ¯0 production are measured and limits are found for η0 and ω0 production. Neutral- and charged-pion correlations are compared with five pion-production models.
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