Dependence of average characteristics of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mi>π</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">−</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:mrow></mml:math>mesons on number of interacting protons in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 4.2 GeV/<i>c</i>per nucleon

A 2-m propane bubble chamber was used to study pion production in interactions of light nuclei d,\ensuremath{\alpha}, C with carbon at 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon. The average numbers of participant protons and correlated numbers of participant nucleons were estimated by using the net charge of secondaries. The dependence of the average values of multiplicity, momentum, and angular characteristics of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ mesons on the number of interacting protons is also studied. The predictions of the Dubna version of the cascade model were found to be in qualitative agreement with results of this analysis.