Nuclear stopping in oxygen-induced reactions at 200 A GeV

A primary goal of relativistic heavy-ion studies is to verify the existence of the postulated quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Since most of the possible plasma signatures are indistinguishable from background created by nonplasma events. Thorough understanding of reaction mechanisms is an important prerequisite in any QGP search. To isolate collective features of nucleus-nucleus collisions from those that may be expected on the basis of linear superposition of nucleon-nucleus collisions, we compare measured quantities with calculations that reproduce data from nucleon-induced reactions and that make predictions for nucleus-nucleus reactions. Here we discuss the data obtained from our Zero-Degree Calorimeter (ZDC) and the transverse energy obtained from the Mid-Rapidity Calorimeter (MIRAC). The primary reactions considered are: 16O + 16C and 16O + 197Au. The measurements show a high degree of nuclear stopping and the energy densities may be large enough to produce a transition to the quark-gluon plasma. 10 refs., 5 figs