Features of CC interactions at a momentum of 4.2 GeV/c per nucleon for various degrees of nuclear-collision centrality

The multiplicity, rapidity, and transverse-momentum distributions of secondaries (negative pions and protons) from CC interactions characterized by various numbers of participant protons are presented. It is shown that, in contrast to the mean transverse momenta of protons, the mean transverse momenta of pions depend only slightly on the degree of collision centrality. The shape of the rapidity distributions of negative pions is also weakly dependent on the degree of collision centrality. With decreasing impact parameter, the product protons are found to concentrate in the central rapidity region. The data in question are analyzed within the modified version of the FRITIOF model. It is shown that, as soon as elastic nucleon rescatterings are taken into account, the model describes satisfactorily the experimental features of negative pions and fast protons. The spectra of slow protons are described only qualitatively because of limitations of the evaporation model used here to treat the deexcitation of residual nuclei.