MULTIPLICITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF TARGET FRAGMENTS IN 60 AGeV16O-EMULSION INTERACTIONS

Abstract

The results of the interactions of 60 AGeV 16 O in nuclear emulsion are studied and compared with those previously obtained for the same projectile at different energies where it was found that within the energy range from 2.1 up to 200 AGeV, the probability for central collisions of 16 O with emulsion nuclei as well as the percentage of events having projectile fragments (PFs) of charge Z≥3 are nearly constant. Multiplicity distributions of different charged secondaries are compared with the predictions of the Monte Carlo Code VENUS which takes into account the intranuclear cascading. The correlations between the various parameters are discussed. The data on shower and grey produced particles are well described by VENUS, however the black track data show a significant departure from this model. The study of heavy track data confirms the limiting fragmentation behaviour in high energy collisions. The multiplicity distributions of different charged secondaries are also compared with those obtained using different projectiles at nearly the same energy.