Transverse and forward energy measurements in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5873027

The aim of the high energy heavy ion programs at the SPS and AGS accelerators is to study nuclear matter under conditions of extremely high densities and temperatures. Theoretical calculations predict that under such conditions hadronic matter might undergo a phasetransition to a new form of matter, the quark-gluon plasma or QGP, in which quarks and gluons are deconfined over an extended volume. A broad spectrum of possible signatures has been suggested. An unfortunate common characteristic of most of these signatures is the necessity to distinguish them from the background created by ordinary hadronic processes. A thorough understanding of the reaction mechanisms in high energy heavy ion collisions is, therefore, an important prerequisite in any QGP search. Global event quantities like the transverse energy E{sub T}, the forward energy E{sub F}, and the charged particle multiplicity have proven to be valuable tools for obtaining this understanding of the reaction mechanisms. In this contribution to the Hadron Structure 1991 Conference will be presented results concerning the transverse energy and forward energy extracted from WA80's calorimeters in a series of measurements using beams of {sup 16}O and {sup 32}S bombarding nuclear targets.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5873027
• Report Number(s): CONF-9109330-1; ON: DE92005161
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

662230 -- Quantum Chromodynamics-- (1992-)
663450* -- Heavy-Ion-Induced Reactions & Scattering-- (1992-)
663580 -- Nuclear Mass Ranges-- A=190-219-- (1992-)
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
CROSS SECTIONS
ENERGY
GOLD 197 TARGET
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
KINETIC ENERGY
MATTER
NUCLEAR MATTER
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
OXYGEN 16 REACTIONS
QUARK MATTER
SULFUR 32 REACTIONS
TARGETS
TRANSVERSE ENERGY