Recent results from the NA36 experiment

Abstract Measurements of the production of Λ particles in S+Pb and S+S collisions at a beam momentum of 200 GeV/c per nucleon are presented. The S+Pb data was taken with two different experimental configurations, and the results agree well with each other. The effects of a new Monte Carlo simulation of the NA36 TPC on the efficiency calculations are discussed. The Λ rapidity and multiplicity distributions are then compared to three theoretical models of heavy ion interactions, and to the NA35 results. There is still a significant disagreement between the two experiments. The comparison to the models indicates that reinteractions of secondaries are important in explaining the observed Λ yields. Finally, the yields of doubly strange baryons in S+Pb interactions have been recalculated using the new efficiencies. The ratios of double to singly strange baryons are unchanged from the previously published results.