Inelaticity in hadron-nucleus collisions from emulsion chamber studies

Abstract

The inelasticity of hadron-carbon nucleus collisions in the energy region exceeding 100 TeV is estimated from the carbon-emulsion chamber data at Pamirs to be $<K_C>=0.65\pm 0.08$. When combined with the recently presented data on hadron-lead nucleus collisions taken at the same energy range it results in the $K\sim A^{0.086}$ mass number dependence of inelasticity. The evaluated partial inelasticity for secondary ($\nu >1$) interactions, $K_{\nu >1}\simeq 0.2$, suggests that the second and higher interactions of the excited hadron inside the nucleus proceed with only slight energy losses.

Comments: LaTeX file and 5 LaTeX files with figures, 11 pages altogether. Thoroughly rewritten and modified, one figure addded one removed. To be published in Phys. Rev. D