Measurement of particle production in proton-induced reactions at 14. 6 GeV/ c

Particle production in proton-induced reactions at 14.6 GeV/{ital c} on Be, Al, Cu, and Au targets has been systematically studied using the E-802 spectrometer at the BNL-Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. Particles are measured in the angular range from 5{degree} to 58{degree} and identified up to momenta of 5, 3.5, and 8 GeV/{ital c} for pions, kaons, and protons, respectively. Mechanisms for particle production are discussed in comparison with heavy-ion-induced reactions at the same incident energy per nucleon.