ISSN 1063-7788, Physics of Atomic Nuclei, 2009, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 7784.

c Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2009.
Original Russian Text

c Kh.K. Olimov, 2009, published in Yadernaya Fizika, 2009, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 8390.

ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS

Experiment

Formation of Cumulative Nuclei of 4 in 16 pp Collisions

at a Momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per Nucleon
Kh. K. Olimov*
Institute for Physics and Technology,
FizikaSolntse Research and Production Association, Uzbek Academy of Sciences,
ul. G. Mavlyanova 2b, Tashkent, 700084 Republic of Uzbekistan
Received March 13, 2008; in nal form, June 16, 2008

AbstractThe formation of cumulative nuclei of 4 in 16 p collisions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per

nucleon was investigated for the rst time under conditions of 4 acceptance. The slope parameter of the
invariant cross sections for the formation of cumulative nuclei of 4 was determined, and new data on the
correlations between the yield of these cumulative nuclei and the yield of charged particles and fragments
in 16 p interactions were obtained.
PACS numbers: 25.10.+s, 25.55.-
DOI: 10.1134/S1063778809010104

INTRODUCTION framework, two possible mechanisms may lead to

Investigations into processes involving the cu-
mulative production of particles whose formation in
collisions of free nucleons is forbidden by the law
of energymomentum conservation were initiated by
Baldin [1]. The cumulative eect was rst observed
in an experiment performed at the synchrophasotron
of the Laboratory of High Energies at the Joint In-
stitute for Nuclear Research and aimed at studying
the reaction 2 H(10 GeV/c + Cu 0 ) + X [2], in
which the authors observed pions of energy markedly
in excess of the energy per nucleon of the deuteron.
The results obtained for the elastic pd scattering of
660-MeV protons [3] and for quasielastic deuteron
knockout from light nuclei in a beam of 675-MeV
protons [4] were the rst experimental indications of
unusual phenomena in hadronnucleus interactions.
The results of those studies underlay the appear-
ance of the hypothesis that short-lived dense nucleon
clusters (uctuations of the nuclear-matter density,
or uctons) exist in nuclei. The ucton hypothesis
was rst formulated by Blokhintsev [5]. As a mat-
ter of fact, Baldins idea of the possible mechanism
of cumulative-particle production [1] was a devel-
opment of Blokhintsevs ucton hypothesis [5]. Ac-
cording to Baldins idea [1], the merger of two or
more nucleons into a hadronic drop of size smaller
than 1 fm is responsible for the formation of a cu-
mulative particle emitted with a high momentum into
the backward hemisphere. Within this conceptual
*
E-mail: olimov@uzsci.net
the formation of dense quark bags [1]. These are
either uctuations of normal-nuclear-matter density
(cold model) or the compression of nuclear matter
under the eect of an incident hadron or a projectile
nucleus (hot model). We note that the assumption
that cumulative-particle production is due to nu-
cleon Fermi momenta was among the earliest hy-
potheses in this eld. However, calculations that took
into account the Fermi motion of nucleons [6] re-
vealed that, in this way, it is impossible to describe
the high-momentum component of the cumulative-
proton spectrum. The early stage of investigations
into cumulative processes was covered in a number
of review articles [711]. Relying on basic regular-
ities in cumulative-particle production, Leksin was
able to formulate the limiting-nuclear-fragmentation
(nuclear-scaling) hypothesis [12], which was tested
for a wide region of primary energies and mass num-
bers of fragmenting nuclei. The results of a systematic
investigation devoted to the cumulative production of
particles ( , K , p, and d) and performed accord-
ing to a unied experimental procedure in beams of
protons, deuterons, and helium and carbon nuclei at
beam momenta of 4.5 and 8.9 GeV/c per nucleon
for various fragmenting nuclei from deuteron to lead
nuclei are presented in the review article by Bon-
darev [13], along with a comparison of these results
with the results from other studies. Basic regulari-
ties and possible mechanisms of cumulative particle
production are also described in detail in that review
article.

77
78
It is noteworthy that the majority of the stud-
ies reported in the literature and devoted to cumu-
lative processes [13] concern exploring the produc-
tion of cumulative nucleons (predominantly protons)
and particles (predominantly pions), but that data on
the cumulative production of A > 2 light fragments
are much scantier. In these realms, the recent study
of Blinov and Chadeeva [14], where they examined
the cumulative production of nucleons and extremely
light fragments (d, 3 H, and 3 He) in 4 p interactions
at a momentum of 5 GeV/c, is worthy of special note.
Under conditions of a 4 acceptance, those authors
determined the invariant cross sections for the pro-
duction of cumulative protons, neutrons, deuterons,
and 3 H and 3 He nuclei, as well as the slopes of their
spectra in the cumulative region (so-called tempera-
ture). Data on the production of cumulative deuterons
and 3 H and 3 He nuclei were compared with the pre-
dictions of the coalescence nuclear model, and it was
found that, in 4 p interactions, the radii of the coa-
lescence region are determined primarily by the radius
of the outgoing fragment [14].
The present article reports on a continuation of a
series of investigations performed by our group that
were devoted to the production of cumulative particles
in hadronnucleus and nucleusnucleus collisions
at high energies. Previously, our group studied [15
18] the production of cumulative protons in C, pC,
4 , , 16 Op, and p20 Ne collisions at primary
energies in the range 3300 GeV and the produc-
tion of cumulative charged pions in pC, 4 , and
collisions at primary energies in the range 4
10 GeV per nucleon. In those studies, the following
universal regularity was conrmed on the basis of a
large statistical data sample: the slope of the inclusive
cross sections for cumulative-particle production in
the cumulative number does not depend on the
primary energy or mass of the projectile particle; it
was also shown that the slope of the inclusive cross
sections for the cumulative production of charged
pions in does not depend on the primary energy,
the projectile-nucleus mass, or the cumulative-pion
charge. It was found that the fraction of events involv-
ing the production of cumulative protons on a car-
bon nucleus is sensitive to the incident-particle sort
(pion versus system of baryons), but that it is inde-
pendent of the incident-nucleus mass number in the
mass region M
Mp (proton or nucleus). It was also
established that the average numbers of cumulative
protons or pions in cumulative events do not depend
on the sort of incident hadron or nucleus or on the
primary energy for a fragmenting target nucleus. The
results obtained in [16] revealed that the formation
of cumulative protons proceeds according to the cold
model, disagreeing sharply with the hot model of their
OLIMOV
formation. The fractions of events in which 16 Op and
p20 Ne collisions lead to the production of cumulative
protons proved to be, respectively, (12.1 0.2) and
(14.6 0.4)% [18]. In the interactions of protons,
alpha particles, and carbon nuclei with carbon nu-
clei, the respective fraction was (10.0 0.1)% [16].
These data demonstrate that the fraction of cumu-
lative events grows markedly with increasing mass
number of the fragmenting nucleus, A, whence we
can conclude that the ucton-formation probability
also grows with increasing mass number [18].
The present study is aimed at exploring the pro-
duction of cumulative nuclei of 4 in 16 p inter-
actions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon
via analyzing the spectrum of invariant cross sections
with respect to the kinetic energy of 4 nuclei emit-
ted into the backward hemisphere in the reference
frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus. Also pre-
sented in this article are new results concerning the
correlations between the yields of cumulative nuclei
of 4 and charged particles and fragments in 16 p
collisions.
The experimental data considered here come from
exposing the 1-m hydrogen bubble chamber of the
Laboratory of High Energies at the Joint Institute
for Nuclear Research (JINR, Dubna) to relativistic
16 nuclei at the Dubna synchrophasotron. These
data are based on an analysis of 8712 fully mea-
sured events of 16 p interactions at a momentum
of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon. The homogeneity of the
target and a low density of the chamber working
liquid made it possible to identify unambiguously the
charges of all secondary fragments and to measure
their momenta with a high precision. In the present
experiment, where use was made of a beam of nuclei
that was incident to a target proton, a product cumu-
lative particle or proton was fast in the chamber rest
frame, its detection eciency being close to 100%.
Singly and doubly charged fragments were taken into
account if the lengths of their tracks in the chamber
ducial volume were in excess of L = 35 cm. In the
case of this selection, the average relative error in
determining the momenta of these fragments does not
exceed 3.5%. Corrections for the loss of fragments
because of interaction with the working liquid of the
chamber over lengths within the range L  35 cm
were taken into account in determining mean mul-
tiplicities. No such cuts on the track length were
introduced for fragments of charge satisfying the con-
dition z
3, since their masses were not identied.
It is noteworthy that no event where the total charge
of multiply charged (z
2) fragments exceeded the
charge of the fragmenting oxygen nucleus was found
in the entire body of experimental data.
PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1 2009
 FORMATION OF CUMULATIVE NUCLEI OF 4
Ed 3/d 3p, mb GeV2 c3 sr1
104
103
102
101
100
101
0 0.03
Fig. 1. Invariant cross sections Ed3 /d3 p (points) for 4 nuclei going into the backward hemisphere (alab > 90 ) as a
function of the kinetic energy in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in 16 p interaction at a momentum
of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon. The solid curve represents an approximation of the experimental data by the function f =
A1 exp(T /T1 ) + A2 exp(T /T2 ).
Singly charged positive particles whose momen-
ta fell within the ranges p = 1.754.75, 4.757.75,
and
7.75 GeV/c were taken for, respectively, pro-
tons appearing as fragments, deuterons, and tritons.
This momentum-range selection made it possible to
identify isotopes of singly charged fragments with a
probability not lower than 96%. Doubly charged frag-
ments of momentum in the regions p < 10.75 GeV/c
and p
10.75 GeV/c were treated as, respectively,
3 and 4 nuclei, the admixtures of 3 and 6
misidentied as 4 nuclei not exceeding 4 and 0.5%,
respectively. In order to exclude the admixture of 6
nuclei among cumulative nuclei of 4 , the produc-
tion of cumulative nuclei of 4 was analyzed in the
momentum range p < 15.4 GeV/c. A more detailed
account of the methodological features of the experi-
ment was given in [19, 20].
It is noteworthy that the inelastic cross section
dened in a standard way for 16 p collisions at a
momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon proved to be
334 6 mb [21].
EXPERIMENTAL DATA AND THEIR
DISCUSSION
Figure 1 displays experimental dierential cross
sections f (T ) = Ed3 /d3 p for 4 nuclei emitted
into the backward hemisphere (alab > 90 ) as a
function of the kinetic energy T in the reference frame
PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1
79
0.06 0.09
T, GeV
comoving with the oxygen nucleus in 16 p interac-
tion at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon. In
Fig. 1, one can see two regions in the behavior of the
invariant cross section for 4 nuclei. These are the
spectator region T < Tc and the cumulative region
T > Tc . Dierentiating the spectrum of the invariant
cross section for 4 nuclei, we dened a value of
Tc 17 MeV as a transition point in the spectrum
between the spectator and cumulative regions. A
value of Tc 17 MeV for the spectrum of cumulative
nuclei of 4 that are produced in 16 p collisions at
a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon proved to be
3 3
close to the corresponding value (Tc H, He 20 MeV)
for 3 and 3 nuclei in 4 p interactions at a
momentum of 5 GeV/c [14]. The statistical sample
of events involving the formation of 4 cumulative
nuclei whose kinetic energy satises the condition
T > 17 MeV included 542 events. The experimental
spectrum f (T ) for 4 nuclei was approximated by
two exponential functions. The explicit form of the
approximating function and the tted values of the
parameters in it are given in Table 1. The solid curve
in Fig. 1 is the result of this approximation. The
slope of the spectrum (or the temperature T0 ) in the
cumulative region is one of the important features
of cumulative production. From Fig. 1 and from the
values of 2 in Table 1, it follows that the spectrum
f (T ) for 4 nuclei is described well by the sum
2009
80
Table 1. Fitted values of the parameters in the approximation of the invariant cross sections for 4 nuclei emitted into
the backward hemisphere (alab > 90 ) in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in 16 p interactions at
a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon
f = A1 exp(T /T1 ) + A2 exp(T /T2 )
A1 , mb GeV2 3 sr1 T1 , MeV A2 , mb GeV2 3 sr1
11 348 872 3.6 0.4
of two exponential functions with two slopes T1 =
3.6 0.4 MeV and T2 = 12.2 0.5 MeV. Obviously,
a slope of T1 = 3.6 0.4 MeV corresponds to the
spectator region T < 17 MeV, while T2 = 12.2
0.5 MeV is the slope of the spectrum f (T ) for 4
nuclei in the cumulative region T > 17 MeV. The
value of T0 for the invariant cross sections describing
the production of cumulative nuclei of 4 in 16 p
interactions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per
nucleon (this corresponds to a proton kinetic energy
of Tp 2.5 GeV in the reference frame comoving
with the oxygen nucleus) proved to be higher than
the values of T0 for the spectra f (T ) characterizing
cumulative nuclei of 3 and 3 (9.4 0.9 and 9.1
0.6 MeV, respectively) from 4 p interactions [14] at
a momentum of 5 GeV/c (Tp 0.62 GeV in the rest
frame comoving with the 4 nucleus). This result is
not surprising and is consistent with a general trend
toward a decrease in the parameter T0 as the primary
energy becomes lower [14].
For the sake of comparison, experimental invariant
cross sections f (T ) = Ed3 /d3 p for protons emitted
as fragments into the backward hemisphere (alab >
90 ) are presented in Fig. 2 versus kinetic energy in
the rest frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in
16 p interaction at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per
nucleon. Figure 2 shows that the spectrum of the
invariant cross section for protons diers markedly
from the spectrum f (T ) for 4 nuclei in Fig. 1. The
best approximation of the spectrum f (T ) for protons
was attained by tting, to the experimental data, the
sum of two exponential functions in the region T <
50 MeV and one exponential function in the regions
T = 50125 and T > 125 MeV individually, as was
done in [13]. The explicit expressions for the approx-
imating functions are given in Tables 2 and 3, along
with the tted parameter values. The solid curves in
Fig. 2 are the ultimate approximations. From Fig. 2
and from the values of 2 in Tables 2 and 3, it fol-
lows that the approximating functions provide a good
description of the spectrum f (T ) for protons. From
Tables 1 and 2, one can see that the slope parameters
of the spectra for evaporated protons and specta-
tor nuclei of 4 (T1 = 3.3 0.2 and 3.6 0.4 MeV,
OLIMOV
T2 , MeV 2 /NDF
3541 449 12.2 0.5 0.84/13
respectively) agree well within the errors. The dashed
curve in Fig. 2 is the ultimate approximation of the
spectrum f (T ) for protons in the region T > 50 MeV
by the exponential function f = A0 exp(T /T0 ) hav-
ing a unied slope parameter T0 (the tted parameter
values are A0 = 1609 107 mb GeV2 c3 sr1 and
T0 = 39 1 MeV, the agreement criterion being 2 =
4.85 for seven degrees of freedom). From Fig. 2 and
from the value of 2 , it follows that the spectrum f (T )
for protons in the region T > 50 MeV is also satisfac-
torily described by an exponential function featuring
a unied slope parameter of T0 = 39 1 MeV. The
value obtained for the slope parameter of invariant
cross sections for cumulative-proton production in
16 p collisions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per
nucleon (Tp 2.5 GeV) was in nearly perfect agree-
ment within the errors with its counterpart (T0 =
38 1.5 MeV) for cumulative protons formed in 4 p
collisions [8, 22] at a momentum of 8.6 GeV/c (Tp
1.4 GeV) and = 180 . That the slope parameter
(T0 = 33 1 MeV) of the spectrum f (T ) for cu-
mulative protons formed in 4 p collisions [14] at a
momentum of 5 GeV/c (Tp 0.62 GeV) is smaller
than its counterpart in the present study is in ac-
cord with a general trend toward a decrease in the
parameter T0 as the primary energy becomes lower.
In [13], it was shown that the spectra of invariant
cross sections for protons emitted at an angle of =
120 in p(8.9 GeV/) + A interactions (where A =
58 Ni, 64 Ni, 64 Zn, 114 Sn, and Pb) are characterized
by two dierent values of the slope parameter T0
in the regions T = 50125 and 125232 MeV. The
weighted averages of the slope parameter over the
aforementioned target nuclei in p(8.9 GeV/) + A
(Tp 8 GeV) interactions proved to be 33.4 0.4 and
44.8 0.3 MeV in, respectively, the rst and the sec-
ond region [13] and were in nearly perfect agreement
within the errors with the corresponding values of the
slope parameter (see Table 3) of the spectrum f (T )
for cumulative protons formed in 16 p collisions at a
momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon. Agreement
between the slope parameters of the spectra f (T ) for
protons in the region T > 50 MeV for a nucleus as
light as that of 16 and for heavy nuclei of 58 Ni, 64 Ni,
PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1 2009
 FORMATION OF CUMULATIVE NUCLEI OF 4 81

Ed 3/d 3p, mb GeV2 c3 sr1

104

103

102

101

100
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
T, GeV

Fig. 2. Invariant cross sections Ed3 /d3 p (points) for protons emitted as fragments into the backward hemisphere (alab >
90 ) as a function of kinetic energy in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in 16 p interaction at a
momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon. The solid curves are an approximation of data by the function f = A1 exp(T /T1 ) +
A2 exp(T /T2 ) in the region T < 50 MeV and approximations by the function f = A0 exp(T /T0 ) in the regions T =
50125 and T > 125 MeV individually. The dashed curve is an approximation of data by the function f = A0 exp(T /T0 )
having a unied slope parameter T0 in the region T > 50 MeV.

64 Zn, 114 Sn, and Pb and for dierent primary energies
(Tp 2.5 GeV and Tp 8 GeV, respectively) com-
plies well with the limiting-fragmentation hypothesis
(nuclear scaling) [12]. This fact is likely to indicate
that the limiting-fragmentation mode is dominant in
16 p collisions at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per
nucleon. Therefore, it is natural to expect that the
value obtained here for the slope parameter of the
spectrum for cumulative nuclei of 4 (T0 = 12.2
0.5 MeV) formed in 16 p collisions at a momentum
of 3.25 GeV/c would remain unchanged within the
errors even at higher primary energies for various
mass numbers of fragmenting nuclei.
As is well known, investigation of various correla-
tions between the yields of cumulative and noncumu-
lative particles and fragments may furnish valuable
information necessary for identifying mechanisms re-
sponsible for the formation of cumulative particles
and fragments. In order to perform a more detailed
analysis of special features of events involving the
production of a 4 cumulative nucleus, we com-
pared mean multiplicities of charged fragments and
pions in events involving the production of a 4
cumulative nucleus (for alab > 90 and T > 17 MeV
in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen
nucleus; in the following, such events are referred
to as cumulative events) with their counterparts in
events where no cumulative nucleus of 4 is pro-
duced, but which involve the formation of one or
more noncumulative nuclei of 4 (in the following
such events are referred to as noncumulative). The
mean multiplicities of charged fragments and pions
in these two groups of events are given in Table 4,
from which it can be seen that the mean multiplicities
of protons appearing as fragments and of 2 , 3 ,
and 3 nuclei, as well as those of charged pions,
in cumulative events are in nearly perfect agreement
within the errors with their counterparts in noncu-
mulative events. However, this table shows that the
mean multiplicity of 4 nuclei in cumulative events
involving the formation of a 4 cumulative nucleus
proved to be markedly higher than that in noncumu-
lative events. By and large, the mean multiplicities
of z = 36 multiply charged fragments are markedly
lower in cumulative than in noncumulative events.
The experimental procedure used made it possible
to determine readily the contributions of topologi-
cal channels of oxygen-nucleus fragmentation to the
production of 4 cumulative nuclei. Table 5 lists
the contributions of topological channels of oxygen-
nucleus fragmentation to events involving the for-
mation of a 4 cumulative nucleus and to noncu-
mulative events. Topologies are characterized by the
charge composition of multiply charged (z
2) frag-

PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1 2009

82 OLIMOV

Table 2. Fitted values of the parameters in the approximation of invariant cross sections for T < 50 MeV protons emitted
as fragments into the backward hemisphere (alab > 90 ) in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in
16
p interaction at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon

f = A1 exp(T /T1 ) + A2 exp(T /T2 )

2 1
A1 , mb GeV 3
c sr T1 , MeV A2 , mb GeV2 c3 sr1 T2 , MeV 2 /NDF
45 038 2497 3.3 0.2 3748 532 24 3 0.26/5

Table 3. Fitted values of the parameters in the approximation of the invariant cross sections for T > 50 MeV protons
emitted as fragments into the backward hemisphere (alab > 90 ) in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen
nucleus in 16 p interaction at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon

f = A0 exp(T /T0)
T = 50125 MeV T > 125 MeV
2 3 1 2 3
A0 , mb GeV c sr T0 , MeV 2
/NDF A0 , mb GeV c sr1 T0 , MeV 2 /NDF
2018 168 35 2 0.29 / 2 1013 291 45 3 0.35/2

Table 4. Mean multiplicities of charged fragments and Table 5. Contributions of topological channels of oxygen-
pions in events involving the production of a 4 cumula- nucleus fragmentation to events involving the production
tive nucleus (group 1) and in events where no cumulative of a 4 cumulative nucleus (group 1) and to events where
nucleus of 4 appears, but which involve the production no cumulative nucleus of 4 appears, but which involve
of one or more noncumulative nuclei of 4 (group 2) the production of one or more noncumulative nuclei of 4
(group 2)
Type Group 1 Group 2
W, %
n(1 H) 2.35 0.07 2.32 0.03 Topology
Group 1 Group 2
n(2 H) 0.67 0.04 0.61 0.02
(22) 32.5 2.8 28.4 1.0
n(3 H) 0.30 0.02 0.27 0.01
(222) 32.8 2.8 26.7 0.9
n(3 He) 0.22 0.02 0.23 0.01 (2222) 3.9 0.9 3.0 0.3
n(4 H) 1.91 0.04 1.72 0.02 (23) 5.5 1 8.4 0.7
n(z = 3) 0.08 0.01 0.11 0.01 (24) 3.3 0.8 4.4 0.4
n(z = 4) 0.04 0.01 0.05 0.01 (25) 2.6 0.7 5.1 0.5
n(z = 5) 0.03 0.01 0.05 0.01 (26) 4.2 0.9 7.2 0.5
n(z = 6) 0.04 0.01 0.07 0.01 (223) 2.2 0.6 2.8 0.3

n( ) 0.34 0.03 0.34 0.01 (224) 1.0 0.4 0.9 0.2

n( + ) 0.49 0.03 0.51 0.02 (2) 12.0 1.6 13.1 0.8
Total 100.0 100.0

ments in an event (gures in parentheses). From the

data in Table 5, it follows that the (222), (22), and (2)
topological channels, which result in the production
of, respectively, three, two, and one doubly charged
fragments, make a dominant contribution both to cu-
mulative and to noncumulative events. Table 5 shows
that, by and large, the contributions of the (22), (222),
and (2222) topological channels to cumulative events
involving the production of a 4 cumulative nucleus
are markedly greater than their contributions to non-
cumulative events. On the contrary, the contributions
of the (23), (24), (25), and (26) topological channels
are noticeably less for cumulative than for noncumu-
lative events (see Table 5). The latter complies well
with the fact that, on average, the mean multiplicities

PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1 2009

 FORMATION OF CUMULATIVE NUCLEI OF 4
Table 6. Mean values of the emission angle (), trans-
verse momentum (pt ), and kinetic energy (T ) of pro-
tons appearing as fragments, charged pions, and 4
nuclei in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen
nucleus in events involving the production of a 4 cumu-
lative nucleus (group 1) and in events where no cumulative
nucleus of 4 appears, but which involve the production
of one or more noncumulative nuclei of 4 (group 2)
Type Particle , deg pt , MeV/c T , MeV
Group 1 1
74 1 265 7 97 4
55 2 224 8 309 16
4
97 2 180 6 12 1
Group 2 1
71 1 268 3 96 1
57 1 215 3 284 7
4
79 1 178 2 16 1
of z = 36 multiply charged fragments proved to be
markedly lower in cumulative than in noncumulative
events.
Table 6 lists the mean values of the emission angle
, transverse momentum pt , and kinetic energy
T  of protons appearing as fragments, charged pi-
ons, and noncumulative nuclei of 4 in the ref-
erence frame comoving with the oxygen nucleus in
cumulative and noncumulative events. From Table 6,
one can see that the mean values of the emission
angles, transverse momenta, and kinetic energies of
protons appearing as fragments and charged pions
in cumulative events are in nearly perfect agreement
within the errors with their counterparts in noncumu-
lative events. It is noteworthy that the mean values
of the transverse momentum and kinetic energy of
charged pions proved to be somewhat higher in cu-
mulative than in noncumulative events, but, because
of large statistical errors, the corresponding values
nearly overlap. From Table 6, one can see that the
mean value of the emission angle of 4 noncu-
mulative nuclei proved to be substantially larger in
cumulative than in noncumulative events, while the
mean value of the kinetic energy of 4 noncumula-
tive nuclei is markedly lower in noncumulative than
in noncumulative events. From the data in Table 6,
it follows that, in cumulative events, there is a trend
toward a predominant emission of 4 noncumula-
tive nuclei into the backward hemispherethat is,
around the direction of 4 cumulative nucleiwhile,
in noncumulative events, 4 nuclei mainly go into
the forward hemisphere in the reference frame co-
moving with the oxygen nucleus. At the same time,
the mean values of the transverse momenta of 4
noncumulative nuclei were nearly coincident in these
PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1
83
Table 7. Mean values of the transverse momentum pt 
of z = 36 multiply charged fragments in events involving
the production of a 4 cumulative nucleus (group 1) and
in events where no cumulative nucleus of 4 appears, but
which involve the production of one or more noncumulative
nuclei of 4 (group 2)
Type Fragment z pt , MeV/c
Group 1 3 327 57
4 301 68
5 255 41
6 312 73
Group 2 3 243 15
4 254 22
5 289 23
6 258 17
two groups of events. It is worth noting that the
mean transverse momentum of 4 cumulative nuclei
themselves proved to be 287 9 MeV/c, which is
approximately 1.5 times as large as the corresponding
value for noncumulative nuclei of 4 (see Table 6) in
these two classes of events.
Although the number of z
3 multiply charged
fragments was statistically small (and, accordingly,
the statistical error in determining their mean kine-
matical features was large), we also compared the
mean values of the transverse momenta of z = 36
fragments in cumulative and noncumulative events.
The respective data are given in Table 7. From the
data in Table 7, it follows that, by and large, the
mean values of the transverse momenta of all z =
36 multiply charged fragments, with the exception
of z = 5 fragments, proved to be noticeably greater in
cumulative than in noncumulative events.
To conclude this section, it is worth noting that
the mean emission angle of 4 cumulative nuclei
proved to be 139.1 1 in the rest frame comoving
with the oxygen nucleus, while the mean multiplicity
of 4 cumulative nuclei in cumulative events was
1.08 0.02.
CONCLUSIONS
The experimental invariant cross sections f (T ) =
Ed3 /d3 p for the formation of 4 nuclei in 16 p
interaction at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nu-
cleon that are emitted into the backward hemisphere
in the reference frame comoving with the oxygen nu-
cleus have been determined under conditions of 4
acceptance. A good description of the spectrum of
2009
84 OLIMOV
the invariant cross section for 4 nuclei by the sum
of two exponential functions that have two slope pa-
rameters corresponding to spectator and cumulative
nuclei of 4 has been obtained. For 16 p collisions
at a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon, the slope
parameter (temperature) T0 of invariant cross sec-
tions for the formation of 4 cumulative nuclei in
the cumulative region (T > 17 MeV) has been deter-
mined for the rst time. The result is 12.2 0.5 MeV.
The results deduced from a comparison of the
slope parameters of the invariant cross sections f (T )
for cumulative protons originating from 16 p col-
lisions with their counterparts obtained in dierent
experiments at various primary energies are indicative
of the dominance of the mode of limiting oxygen-
nucleus fragmentation at a primary momentum of
3.25 GeV/c per nucleon.
A comparative analysis of various features of par-
ticles and fragments in cumulative events involving
the formation of a 4 cumulative nucleus and non-
cumulative events resulting in the production of one
or more noncumulative nuclei of 4 has been per-
formed. The results of this comparison have revealed
signicant distinctions between cumulative and non-
cumulative events. In particular, the mean multiplic-
ity of 4 nuclei in cumulative events involving the
production of a 4 cumulative nucleus has proven
to be markedly higher than that in noncumulative
events. It has also been found that, in cumulative
events, there is a trend toward a predominant emis-
sion of 4 noncumulative nuclei into the backward
hemisphere (that is, around the direction of the emis-
sion of 4 cumulative nuclei), while, in noncumula-
tive events, 4 nuclei escape largely into the forward
hemisphere in the reference frame comoving with the
oxygen nucleus.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to Professors S.L. Lutpullaev and
K. Olimov for valuable discussions on the results of
this study and to Professor V.V. Glagolev, who super-
vised the creation of the database of 16 p collisions at
a momentum of 3.25 GeV/c per nucleon.
This work was supported by a NATO reintegration
grant (no. EAP.RIG.982790) for young scientists; it
was also supported in part by a grant (no. F2-F029)
from Uzbek Academy of Sciences for fundamental
research.
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Translated by A. Isaakyan
PHYSICS OF ATOMIC NUCLEI Vol. 72 No. 1 2009