Kaon and $Φ$ production vs Participants in Nuclear Collisions

Abstract

Data on kaon and $Φ$ production in nuclear collisions as a function of centrality are analysed both at AGS and SPS energy range. We compare the results of several experiments, looking for common trend in `participant scaling' of production yields. We find a smooth description of scaled kaon and $Φ$ yields as a function of participant density. We also show a participant density dependence of kaons and $Φ$ produced in the forward hemisphere for proton-nucleus collisions.