INTERACTIONS OF 200-GeV/c PROTONS WITH EMULSION NUCLEI, CHARGED PARTICLE MULTIPLICITIES

The experimental data on the multiplicity distributions for various kinds of secondaries produced in the proton-nucleus interactions in emulsion at 200 GeV/c and the correlations between them are presented and discussed. All the characteristics of heavy prongs (mean values , , , their distributions and correlations) are independent (or have a very weak dependence) on the collisions energy in the range 20-200 GeV/c. The data contradict to the cascade-evaporation model and qualitatively agree with the mechanism of particle emission via the long-lived intermediate states. The observed weak A-dependence ({approx} A{sup 0.15}) of shower particle distributions is in agreement with the calculated ones according to the simplified two-step model. It is shown that the n{sub s}-distributions agree well with KNO scaling law in the 67-200 GeV/c range, but the form of universal {psi}(n{sub s/n{sub s}})-function has a weak A-dependence.