Pion production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is examined. It is shown that the commonly employed effective-velocity theory is incorrect. A formulation based on the unitarity is presented. 8 refs., 1 figs.

Single particle inclusive spectra are presented for pion and kaon production in Si+Au reactions at an incident momentum of 14.6 A · GeV/c and Au+Au reactions at an incident momentum of 11.6 A · GeV/c. A simple geometric scaling of the pion production for central collisions as A{sub proj}13 and A{sub targ}23 results from the observed production of about one pion per participant. Kaon yields are shown to be proportional to the number of excited participants and consistent with RQMD and ARC calculations.

Data relative to proton and pion production produced in central collisions have been reviewed by S. Nagamiya. Therefore, the production of complex fragments is emphasized here. A presentation is made of experimental data on d, t, 3He emission and their discussion in terms of the existing models. The size of fireball derived from the analysis of complex fragments is compared to the results of pion interferometry experiment. Interesting features observed in the distribution of charged particles once an heavy fragment has been detected are reported. Finally, suggestions of phenomena to study with a 4.pi. detector are given.

Papers of the June 1989 meeting in Beijing by the China Center of Advanced Science and Technology. This small book covers nucleus- nucleus collisions, states of the vacuum, and highly relativistic heavy ions in the experimental realm. Theoretical papers deal with quark-gluon plasma, and relativistic heavy ion collisions. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR