Multi-strange baryon and antibaryon production in sulphur-tungsten and proton-tungsten interactions at 200 GeV/c per nucleon

Production of multi-strange baryons and antibaryons is expected to be a useful indicator in the search for Quark-Gluon Plasma formation. Production of Ξ− and Ξ − has been observed for the first time in ultra-relativistic heavy ion interactions by the WA85 Experiment. We describe the procedure used to select these cascade candidates and show that Ξ− and Ξ − decays can be identified. Preliminary ratios of Ξ/Ξ production in sulphur-tungsten and proton-tungsten interactions are also presented.