Fluctuations in transverse energy and multiplicity, energy densities, and neutral pion spectra in nucleus-nucleus collissions at 200 GeV/nucleon

The main goal of the CERN heavy-ion experiments is the search for an indication that the predicted state of deconfined quarks and gluons, the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), has been produced. The quantity most crucial to the probability of QGP formation is the thermalized energy density attained during the heavy-ion reaction. The amount of energy radiated transverse to the beam direction is the experimental quantity which is believed to be a measure of the amount of energy deposition in the reaction, and hence to reflect the energy density attained. In this presentation we consider the systematics of transverse energy production at CERN SPS energies, and we use the results to make estimates, under various assumptions, of attained energy densities. Measurements of direct photons and lepton pairs are considered to be among the most promising methods for studies of the QGP. In contrast to hadrons, direct photons are not expected to undergo any interactions after their creation. The WA80 collaboration has undertaken the measurement of direct photons, which is a difficult task due to the presence of a high background of photons from the decay of neutral pions. The π0 spectra themselves, however, provide us with the opportunity to study the excited reaction zone during the hadronization phase. We present here measurements of neutral pions produced in 16O + Au collisions at 200 GeV/nucleon. 22 refs., 11 figs