Measurement of particle production in proton-induced reactions at 14.6 GeV/<i>c</i>

Abstract

Particle production in proton-induced reactions at 14.6 GeV/c on Be, Al, Cu, and Au targets has been systematically studied using the E-802 spectrometer at the BNL-Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. Particles are measured in the angular range from 5\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} to 58\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} and identified up to momenta of 5, 3.5, and 8 GeV/c for pions, kaons, and protons, respectively. Mechanisms for particle production are discussed in comparison with heavy-ion-induced reactions at the same incident energy per nucleon.