Derivation of inelasticity distribution for hadron-hadron collisions in a gluon-gluon interaction picture

The inelasticity distribution and energy loss of leading particles, which are essential ingredients in statistical models for multiparticle production processes and the phase transition from hadronic to quark-gluon matter, have been calculated in an approach in which the dominant role is played by interacting gluons. The interpretation of existing experimental data indicates an appreciable reduction of the number of soft gluons in comparison with that deduced from a naive extrapolation of deep-inelastic--scattering experiments