CHARGED-PARTICLE SPECTRA IN CENTRAL S+S COLLISIONS AT 200 GEV/C PER NUCLEON

The transverse momentum and rapidity distributions of negative hadrons and participant protons have been measured for central S-32 + S-32 collisions at p(lab) = 200 GeV/c per nucleon. The proton mean rapidity shift [DELTAy] approximately 1.6 and mean transverse momentum [p(T)] approximately 0.6 GeV/c are much higher than in pp or peripheral AA collisions and indicate an increase in the nuclear stopping power. All p(T) spectra exhibit similar source temperatures. Including previous results for K(S)0, LAMBDA, and LAMBDABAR, we account for all important contributions to particle production.