FORMATION OF HOT NUCLEI WITH GEV P AND PI(-) BEAMS

4 pi studies of multiple charged-particle emission in GeV pi(-)- and p roton-induced reactions on a Au target have been performed with the IS IS detector array. distributions yield nearly identical results for bo th p and pi(-) beams, suggesting an independence of hadron type in ini tiating the fast cascade and subsequent energy deposition in the struc k nucleus. The excitation functions show little sensitivity to beam mo mentum, consistent with a saturation in deposition energy and the conc ept of limiting fragmentation. However, the intermediate mass fragment multiplicities and fragment charge distributions depend strongly on c ollision violence.