Interaction cross sections and negative pion multiplicities in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon

Scanning results ofp, d, he, and12C interactions on Ta plates and in propane are presented. Inelastic cross sections are determined. They agree with geometrical models. General characteristics of pion multiplicity distributions are analyzed and compared with results from nucleon-nucleon interactions. Average multiplicities of negative pions are found to depend on the number of interacting beam nucleons.