FRAGMENTATION OF RELATIVISTIC CARBON NUCLEI UNDERGOING INELASTIC-COLLISIONS WITH PROPANE AND TANTALUM NUCLEI

New experimental data on the relative yields and on the momentum and c orrelation characteristics of various C-12 spectator fragments formed in C-12 collisions with propane (C3H8) and tantalum nuclei at a primar y momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon are presented and discussed. The c ross sections for the production of spectator protons, deuterons, and tritons and their momentum distributions are studied as functions of t he target mass number and impact parameter of a nucleus-nucleus intera ction. It is shown that some of these dependences weaken or disappear in going over to the rest frame of a residual nucleus undergoing fragm entation. This means that the dependences in question are associated w ith its decay in flight.