Measurement of transverse energy production with Si and Au beams at relativistic energy: Towards hot and dense hadronic matter

We present a systematic study of transverse energy (${\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{T}}$) production in collisions of 11.4A GeV/c Au and 14.6A GeV/c Si ions with targets of Al, Au, and Pb. Comparison of data for Au+Au and Si+Al indicates that, for the heavier system, there is an increase in the amount of stopping which is accompanied by a decrease in the width of the ${\mathit{dE}}_{\mathit{T}}$/d\ensuremath{\eta} distribution. The ratio of the maximum ${\mathit{E}}_{\mathit{T}}$ observed for the two systems is significantly greater than the ratio of the total energy available in the center of mass frame.