ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIGH-ENERGY PROTON AND PION SHOWERS AND THEIR SIGNALS IN A NON-COMPENSATING CALORIMETER

We present the results of experimental studies of hadron showers in a copper:quartz-fiber calorimeter, based on the detection of Cherenkov l ight. These studies show that there are very significant differences b etween the signals from protons and pions at the same energies. In the energy range between 200 and 375 GeV, where these studies were perfor med, the calorimeter's response to protons was typically 10% smaller t han the response to pions. On the other hand, the energy resolution wa s about 25% better for protons. In addition, the protons had a Gaussia n line shape, whereas the pion response curve was asymmetric. These di fferences can be understood from the requirements of baryon number con servation in the shower development. They are expected to be present i n any non-compensating calorimeter, to a degree determined by the e/h value. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.