Primary energy estimation in interactions of 22.8 GeV/c protons with nucleons and light emulsion nuclei

Abstract

In the present work, the validity of the Castagnoli's formula has been tested for primary energy estimation in the case of p–N and p – light nucleus collisions. By eliminating the contribution of the persisting primary in the angular distribution, a better estimate of the primary energy has been obtained. In the case of p–N collisions, a good agreement with the actual value of the primary energy has been obtained for ns > 4 events and a large disagreement for [Formula: see text] events. The latter observation has been explained on the basis of a peripheral mechanism of particle production for such events. In the case of p – light nucleus collisions, the underestimation of the primary energy for high-multiplicity events has been explained as being due to the occurrence of secondary collisions inside the nucleus.