Study of longitudinal correlations between pions from fragmentation processes inK − p interactions at 32 GeV/c

Longitudinal correlations between pions inclusively produced in the target and beam fragmentation regions are studied in aK−p bubble chamber experiment at 32 GeV/c with a sensitivity of about 6.7 ev/μb. It was found that the\({{\tilde x_2 = x_2 } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\tilde x_2 = x_2 } {(1 - \left| {x_1 } \right|)}}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {(1 - \left| {x_1 } \right|)}}\) distributions of charged pions with momentum fraction in the proton hemisphere with respect to a charged “trigger” pion with momentum fraction x1 do not show scaling, that those of the associated π1/π2 do not compare toK+p interactions and give indications for quark annihilation. The invariant two- and three pion longitudinal C.M. distributions show significant deviations from the naive quark recombination picture. Distinct long-range correlations observed between π−s from the proton fragmentation region and π+s from theK− fragmentation region could imply contributions from quark exchange or quark annihilation mechanisms inK−p interactions at 32 GeV/c.