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Transverse energy measurements in collisions of 14.6 GeV/c {sup 28}Si and 11.4 GeV/c {sup 197}Au beams

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:111248
This thesis presents results of a systematic study of the transverse energy production of collisions of 14.6 GeV/c{sup 28}Si and 11.4 GeV/c{sup 197}Au beams with targets of Al, Cu, Au and Pb. The measurements were performed in the relativistic heavy ion experiment E814/E877 at the Brookhaven AGS, with its participant calorimeter (PCAL) as the principal detector. PCAL is a fiber optical-scintillator sampling calorimeter with lead/iron as absorber. It covers polar angle 1.0{degrees} < {theta} < 47{degrees}, with a depth of 4 absorption lengths. It is segmented transversely into 8 radial and 16 azimuthal segments and longitudinally into 4 depth segments, permitting measurements of transverse energy flow as well as its angular distribution in the pseudorapidity region 0.83 < {eta} < 4.7. The total transverse energy production in Si + A reactions is found to scale well the center-of-mass energy of the system, but comparisons between the two symmetric systems of Au + Au and Si + Al show that both the maximum total E{sub T} and the maximum dE{sub T}/d{eta} increase faster than the available energy of the system. The rapidity distribution of transverse energy flow shifts according to the effective center-of-mass of the colliding nucleons, and the width of the distribution is significantly smaller for heavier systems.
Research Organization:
Pittsburgh Univ., PA (United States)
OSTI ID:
111248
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English