Inclusive cross sections for production of π+, π−, p, d, H3, He3, and He4 have been measured at laboratory angles from 10° to 145° in nuclear collisions of Ne + Naf, Ne + Cu, and Ne + Pb at 400 MeV/nucleon, C + C, C + Pb, Ne + NaF, Ne + Cu, Ne + Pb, Ar + KCl, and Ar + Pb at 800 MeV/nucleon, and Ne + NaF and Ne + Pb at 2.1 GeV/nucleon. The production of light fragments in proton induced collisions at beam energies of 800 MeV and 2.1 GeV has also been measured in order to allow us to compare these processes. For equal-mass nuclear collisions the total integrated yields of nuclear charges are well explained by a simple participant-spectator model. For 800 MeV/nucleon beams the energy spectra of protons at c.m. 90° are characterized by a "shoulder-arm" type of spectrum shape with an exponential falloff at high energies, whereas those of pions are of a simple exponential type. The inverse of the exponential slope, E0, for protons is systematically larger than that for pions. This value of E0 is larger for heavier-mass projectiles and targets. It also increases monotonically with the beam energy. The angular anisotropy of protons is larger than that of pions. The yield ratio of π− to total nuclear charge goes up with the beam energy, whereas the yields of composite fragments decrease. The ratio of low-energy π− to π+, as well as that of H3 to He3, is larger than the neutron to proton ratio of the system. The spectrum shape of the composite fragments with mass number A is explained very well by the Ath power of the observed proton spectra. The sizes of the interaction region are evaluated from the observed coalescence coefficients. The radius obtained is typically 3-4 fm. The yield ratio of composite fragments to protons strongly depends on the projectile and target masses and the beam energy, but not on the emission angle of the fragments. These results are compared with currently available theoretical models. NUCLEAR REACTIONS Ne + NaF, Ne + Cu, Ne + Pb, EA=400 MeV/nucleon; C + C, C + Pb, Ne + NaF, Ne + Cu, Ne + Pb, Ar + KCl, Ar + Pb, EA=800 MeV/nucleon; Ne + NaF, Ne + Pb, EA=2100 MeV/nucleon; p + C, p+ NaF, p + KCl, p + Cu, p + Pb, E=800 MeV; p + C, p + NaF, p + KCl, p + Cu, p + Pb, E=2100 MeV; measured σ(p,θ) for π+, π−, p, d, H3, He3, and He4.

In this paper Au+Au collisions at 11.6A GeV/c are characterized by two global observables: the energy measured near zero degrees (EZCAL) and the total event multiplicity. Particle spectra are measured for different event classes that are defined in a two-dimensional grid of both global observables. For moderately central events (σ/σint<12%) the proton dN/dy distributions do not depend on EZCAL but only on the event multiplicity. In contrast the shape of the proton transverse spectra shows little dependence on the event multiplicity. The change in the proton dN/dy distributions suggests that different conditions are formed in the collision for different event classes. These event classes are studied for signals of new physics by measuring pion and kaon spectra and yields. In the event classes doubly selected on EZCAL and multiplicity there is no indication of any unusual pion or kaon yields, spectra, or K/π ratio even in the events with extreme multiplicity.

A systematic study of the spectra and yields of K+ and K− is reported by experiment E866 as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at 11.6A GeV/c. The invariant transverse spectra for both kaon species are well described by exponentials in mt, with inverse slope parameters that are largest at midrapidity and which increase with centrality. The inverse slopes of the K+ spectra are slightly larger than the inverse slopes of the K− spectra. The kaon rapidity density peaks at midrapidity with the K+ distribution wider in rapidity than K−. The integrated total yields of K+ and K− increase nonlinearly and steadily with the number of projectile participants. The yield per participant for kaons is two to three times larger than the yield from N−N collisions. This enhancement suggests that the majority of kaons in central Au+Au reactions are produced in secondary hadronic collisions. There is no evidence for an onset of additional kaon production from a possible small volume of baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma. The differences between K+ and K− rapidity distributions and transverse spectra are consistent with a lower phase space for K− production due to a higher energy threshold. These differences also exclude simple thermal models that assume emission from a common equilibrated system.

Antiproton production cross sections have been measured for minimum bias and central Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6 A GeV c . The data presented cover the range of transverse momentum from 0.3 to 1.2 GeV c and lab rapidities from 1.1 to 1.7 units. The relative p π − and p K − yields are found to be the smallest for the heaviest system measured, central Si+Au collisions. For these collisions, the p π − ratio, determined from integrated yields for 1.1⩽ y ⩽1.7, is (0.84±0.07)×10 −3 . In the same rapidity interval, the average antiproton inverse m ⊥ slope is 141±14 MeV for central Si+Al and central Si+Au collisions.

The production of π±,K±,p has been measured in p+Be and p+Au collisions for comparison with central Si+Au collisions. The inverse slope parameters T0 obtained by an exponential fit to the invariant cross sections in transverse mass are found to be, T0p,K+,ππ∼140–160 MeV in p+A collisions, whereas in central Si+Au collisions, T0p,K+∼200–220 MeV >T0ππ∼140–160 MeV at midrapidity. The π± and K+ distributions are shifted backwards in p+Au compared with p+Be. A gradual increase of (dn/dy)K+ per projectile nucleon is observed from p+Be to p+Au to central Si+Au collisions, while pions show no significant increase.

A systematic set of measurements of the global transverse energy distributions, dσ/dET and dET/dη, from beams of protons, O16 and Si28 at 14.6A GeV/c, incident on targets ranging from Be to Au is presented. The detector was a semicircular array of lead-glass blocks, covering polar angles 9°<θ<32°, whose total response provides a good measure of the produced particle yield in the central rapidity region of these reactions. Proton-nucleus spectra exhibit a similar shape on the high-energy tail, independent of target, suggesting that produced particles in such events arise mostly from the first collision of the projectile proton. For targets heavier than Cu, the high-energy edges of the oxygen-nucleus spectra, and of the silicon-nucleus spectra, reach ratios consistent with the geometry of central collisions. Angular distributions, dET/dη, are characterized by Gaussian fits, and an acceptance-independent form of the differential cross section is found, based on the maximum value of dET/dη. The projectile dependence of nucleus-nucleus spectra is studied in terms of two very different models: simple energy scaling and the wounded projectile nucleon model of p+A convolutions.

Charged kaon production has been measured in Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6 A GeV/c, and Au+Au collisions at 11.1 A GeV/c by Experiments 859 and 866 (the E--802 Collaboration) at the BNL AGS. Invariant transverse mass spectra and rapidity distributions for both K+ and K- are presented. The centrality dependence of rapidity-integrated kaon yields is studied. Strangeness enhancement is observed as an increase in the slope of the kaon yield with the total number of participants as well as the yield per participant. The enhancement starts with peripheral Si+Al and Si+Au collisions (relative to N+N) and appears to saturate for a moderate number of participating nucleons in Si+Au collisions. It is also observed to increase slowly with centrality in Au+Au collisions, to a level in the most central Au+Au collisions that is greater than that found in central Si+A collisions. The enhancement factor for $K^+$ production are 3.0 +-0.2(stat.) +-0.4(syst.) and 4.0 +-0.3(stat.) +-0.5(syst.), respectively, for the most central 7% Si+Au collisions and the most central 4% Au+Au collisions relative to N+N at the correponding beam energy.

Azimuthal angle (Delta phi) correlations are presented for a broad range of transverse momentum (0.4 < pT < 10 GeV/c) and centrality (0-92%) selections for charged hadrons from di-jets in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. With increasing pT, the away-side Delta phi distribution evolves from a broad and relatively flat shape to a concave shape, then to a convex shape. Comparisons to p+p data suggest that the away-side distribution can be divided into a partially suppressed head region centered at Delta phi ~ \pi, and an enhanced shoulder region centered at Delta phi ~ \pi \pm 1:1. The pT spectrum for the associated hadrons in the head region softens toward central collisions. The spectral slope for the shoulder region is independent of centrality and trigger pT . The properties of the near-side distributions are also modified relative to those in p + p collisions, reflected by the broadening of the jet shape in Delta phi and Delta eta, and an enhancement of the per-trigger yield. However, these modifications seem to be limited to pT < 4 GeV/c, above which both the dihadron pair shape and per-trigger yield become similar to p + p collisions. These observations suggest that both the away- and near-side distributions contain a jet fragmentation component which dominates for pT \ge 5GeV and a medium-induced component which is important for pT \le 4 GeV/c. We also quantify the role of jets at intermediate and low pT through the yield of jet-induced pairs in comparison to binary scaled p + p pair yield. The yield of jet-induced pairs is suppressed at high pair proxy energy (sum of the pT magnitudes of the two hadrons) and is enhanced at low pair proxy energy. The former is consistent with jet quenching/ the latter is consistent with the enhancement of soft hadron pairs due to transport of lost energy to lower pT.

The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity ($\rm{d} N_{ch}/\rm{d}\eta\sim26$) as measured in p-Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p-Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and Statistical Hadronisation Models (SHM).

Measurements of the A dependence and pseudorapidity interval (δη) dependence of midrapidity ET distributions in a half-azimuth (Δφ=π) electromagnetic calorimeter are presented for p+Be, p+Au, O+Cu, Si+Au, and Au+Au collisions at the BNL-AGS (Alternating-Gradient Synchrotron). The shapes of the upper edges of midrapidity ET distributions as a function of the pseudorapidity interval δη in the range 0.3 to 1.3, roughly centered at midrapidity, are observed to vary with δη, like multiplicity—the upper edges of the distributions flatten as δη is reduced. At the typical fixed upper percentiles of ET distributions used for nuclear geometry characterization by centrality definition—7 percentile, 4 percentile, 2 percentile, 1 percentile, 0.5 percentile—the effect of this variation in shape on the measured projectile Ap dependence for 16O, 28Si, 197Au projectiles on an Au target is small for the ranges of δη and percentile examined. The ET distributions for p+Au and p+Be change in shape with δη; but in each δη interval the shapes of the p+Au and p+Be distributions remain indentical with each other—a striking confirmation of the absence of multiple-collision effects at midrapidity at AGS energies. The validity of the nuclear geometry characterization versus δη is illustrated by plots of the ET(δη) distribution in each δη interval in units of the measured 〈ET(δη)〉p+Au in the same δη interval for p+Au collisions. These plots, in the physically meaningful units of “number of average p+Au collisions,” are nearly universal as a function of δη, confirming that the reaction dynamics for ET production at midrapidity at AGS energies is governed by the number of projectile participants and can be well characterized by measurements in apertures as small as Δφ=π, δη=0.3.