The production of protons, anti-protons, neutrons, deuterons and tritons in minimum bias p+C interactions is studied using a sample of 385 734 inelastic events obtained with the NA49 detector at the CERN SPS at 158 GeV/c beam momentum. The data cover
a phase space area ranging from 0 to 1.9 GeV/c in transverse momentum and in Feynman x from -0.80 to 0.95 for protons, from -0.2 to 0.4 for anti-protons and from 0.2 to 0.95 for neutrons. Existing data in the far backward hemisphere are used to extend the coverage for protons and light nuclear fragments into the region of intranuclear cascading. The use of corresponding data sets obtained in hadron-proton collisions with the same detector allows for the detailed analysis and model-independent separation of the three principle components of hadronization in p+C interactions, namely projectile fragmentation, target fragmentation of participant nucleons and intranuclear cascading.
Two-particle azimuthal correlations of high-pT hadrons can serve as a probe of interactions of partons with the dense medium produced in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. First NA49 results on such correlations are presented for central and mid-centr
al Pb+Pb collisions at 158A GeV beam energy, for different centrality bins and charge combinations of trigger and associate particles. These results feature a flattened away-side peak in the most central collisions, which is consistent with expectations of the medium-interaction scenario. A comparison with CERES Pb+Au results at the same energy, as well as with PHENIX Au+Au results at the top RHIC energy, is provided.
New data on the production of charged kaons in p+p interactions are presented. The data come from a sample of 4.8 million inelastic events obtained with the NA49 detector at the CERN SPS at 158 GeV/c beam momentum. The kaons are identified by energy
loss in a large TPC tracking system. Inclusive invariant cross sections are obtained in intervals from 0 to 1.7 GeV/c in transverse momentum and from 0 to 0.5 in Feynman x. Using these data as a reference, a new evaluation of the energy dependence of kaon production, including neutral kaons, is conducted over a range from 3 GeV to p+anti-p collider energies.
The NA49 experiment has collected comprehensive data on particle production in nucleus-nucleus collisions over the whole SPS beam energies range, the critical energy domain where the expected phase transition to a deconfined phase is expected to occu
r. The latest results from Pb+Pb collisions between 20$A$ GeV and 158$A$ GeV on baryon stopping and light nuclei production as well as those for strange hyperons are presented. The measured data on $p$, $bar{p}$, $Lambda$, $bar{Lambda}$, $Xi^-$ and $bar{Xi}^+$ production were used to evaluate the rapidity distributions of net-baryons at SPS energies and to compare with the results from the AGS and the RHIC for central Pb+Pb (Au+Au) collisions. The dependence of the yield ratios and the inverse slope parameter of the $m_t$ spectra on the collision energy and centrality, and the mass number of the produced nuclei $^3He$, $t$, $d$ and $bar{d}$ are discussed within coalescence and statistical approaches. Analysis of the total multiplicity exhibits remarkable agreement between the measured yield for $^3He$ and those predicted by the statistical hadronization model. In addition, new results on $Lambda$ and $bar{Lambda}$ as well as $Xi^-$ production in minimum bias Pb+Pb reactions at 40$A$ GeV and 158$A$ GeV and central C+C, Si+Si and Pb+Pb collisions are presented. The system size dependence of the yields of these hyperons was analysed to determine the evolution of strangeness enhancement relative to elementary p+p collisions.
