Study of the energy flow in sulphur-and oxygen-nucleus collisions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon.

We report on a systematic study of midrapidity transverse energy production and forward energy flow in interactions ofO andS projectiles with S, Cu, Ag and Au targets at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon. The variation of the shape of the E distributions with target and projectile mass can be understood from collision geometry. Average E values determined for central collisions show an increasing stopping power for heavier target nuclei. A higher relative stopping is observed at 60 GeV/nucleon than at 200 GeV/nucleon. Bjorken estimates of the energy density reach approximately 3 GeV/fm in high E events at 200 GeV/nucleon withO andS projectiles. The systematics of the data and the shapes of E and pseudorapidity distributions are well described by the Lund model Fritiof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]