System size dependence of strange particle yields and spectra at √sNN = 17.3 GeV

Yields and spectra of strange hadrons (K+, K-, φ, Λ and Λ-bar as well as of charged pions were measured in near central C+C and Si+Si collisions at 158 A GeV beam energy with the NA49 detector. Together with earlier data for p+p, S+S and Pb+Pb reactions, the system size dependence can be studied. Relative strangeness production rises fast and saturates at about 60 participating nucleons; the net hyperon spectra show an increasing shift towards midrapidity for larger colliding nuclei. An interpretation based on the formation of coherent systems of increasing volume is proposed. The transverse mass spectra can be described by a blast-wave ansatz. Increasing flow velocity is accompanied by decreasing temperatures for both kinetic and chemical freeze out. The increasing gap between inelastic and elastic decoupling leaves space for rescattering