Results from CERN experiment WA80

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6991705

Gutbrod, H H; Plasil, F; Albrecht, R; Awes, T C; Baktash, C; Beckmann, P; Berger, F; Bock, R; Claesson, G; Dragon, L

As in the case of most of the experiments discussed at this conference, the primary goal of WA80 is a search for evidence that a quark-gluon plasma (QGP) has been formed, or that some similar phase transition has taken place. A number of signatures for QGP formation have been suggested, and most experiments have been designed so as to obtain data that pertain to one or more of these signatures. In the case of WA80, the primary probe for the investigation of the QGP is the measurement of photons that may be emitted from the plasma phase. An understanding of the various QGP signatures, however, requires an understanding of the background created by reaction products that do not relate directly to QGP production and thus requires a thorough understanding of the reaction mechanism governing nucleus-nucleus collisions at these extreme energies. Consequently, another important goal of WA80 is to survey nucleus-nucleus collisions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon and to compare the results to those obtained from proton-nucleus interactions. We have pursued this second goal by measuring forward and transverse energies, by studying the multiplicities of produced charged particles over a large range of pseudorapidity, by investigating transverse momentum spectra of neutral products, and by examining target fragmentation products. In this paper we review all of our results obtained with 60- and 200-GeV/nucleon /sup 16/O projectiles, with the exception of charged-particle multiplicity data, which are discussed in a separate presentation at this conference. We also present the first preliminary calorimeter results from /sup 32/S bombardments at 6.4 TeV. 22 refs., 13 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6991705
• Report Number(s): CONF-880280-2; ON: DE88012530
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

645100* -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Interactions & Properties-Experimental
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ALUMINIUM 27 TARGET
BARYON-BARYON INTERACTIONS
CARBON 12 TARGET
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
COPPER 65 TARGET
CROSS SECTIONS
DATA
DIFFERENTIAL CROSS SECTIONS
ENERGY DENSITY
ENERGY SPECTRA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FRAGMENTATION
GOLD 197 TARGET
HADRON-HADRON INTERACTIONS
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
INFORMATION
INTERACTIONS
LINEAR MOMENTUM
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MULTIPLICITY
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN 16 REACTIONS
PARTICLE INTERACTIONS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PARTICLE RAPIDITY
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROTON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS
QUARK-GLUON INTERACTIONS
RADIATION DETECTORS
SHOWER COUNTERS
SILVER 108 TARGET
SPECTRA
STOPPING POWER
SULFUR 32 REACTIONS
TARGETS
THEORETICAL DATA
TRANSVERSE MOMENTUM