Inclusive single-particle distributions and transverse momenta of forward produced charged hadrons in $\mu$ p scattering at 470-GeV

Using data from the Fermilab fixed target experiment E665, general properties of forward produced charged hadrons in μp interactions at a primary muon energy of 470 GeV are investigated. The normalized inclusive singleparticle distributions for Feynman-x D(xF ) and for the transverse momentum D(p2t , xF ) are measured as a function of W and Q2. The dependence of the average transverse momentum squared 〈p2t〉 on xF , W and Q2 is studied. The increasing contribution from diffractive production as Q2 decreases leads to a reduction of the average charged hadron multiplicities at low (positive) xF and an enhancement at large xF , for Q2 ≲ 10 GeV2. It also reduces 〈p2t〉 for Q2 ≲ 5 GeV2 and 0.4 ≲ xF < 1.0.