A systematic set of measurements of the global transverse energy distributions, {ital d}{sigma}/{ital dE}{sub {ital T}} and {ital dE}{sub {ital T}}/{ital d}{eta}, from beams of protons, {sup 16}O and ...{sup 28}Si at 14.6{ital A} GeV/{ital 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{degree}{lt}{theta}{lt}32{degree}, 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, {ital dE}{sub {ital T}}/{ital d}{eta}, are characterized by Gaussian fits, and an acceptance-independent form of the differential cross section is found, based on the maximum value of {ital dE}{sub {ital T}}/{ital d}{eta}. 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 {ital p}+{ital A} convolutions.
Particle production in proton-induced reactions at 14.6 GeV/{ital 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{degree} to 58{degree} and identified up to momenta of 5, 3.5, and 8 GeV/{ital 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.
