MULTIPLICITY DISTRIBUTIONS OF TARGET FRAGMENTS IN 60 AGEV O-16-EMULSION INTERACTIONS

The results of the interactions of 60 AGeV O-16 in nuclear emulsion ar e studied and compared with those previously obtained for the same pro jectile at different energies where it was found that within the energ y range from 2.1 up to 200 AGeV, the probability for central collision s of O-16 with emulsion nuclei as well as the percentage of events hav ing projectile fragments (PFs) of charge Z greater than or equal to 3 are nearly constant. Multiplicity distributions of different charged s econdaries are compared with the predictions of the Monte Carlo Code V ENUS which takes into account the intranuclear cascading. The correlat ions between the various parameters are discussed. The data on shower and grey produced particles are well described by VENUS, however the b lack track data show a significant departure from this model. The stud y of heavy track data confirms the limiting fragmentation behaviour in high energy collisions. The multiplicity distributions of different c harged secondaries are also compared with those obtained using differe nt projectiles at nearly the same energy.