Results on charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A and 30A GeV are presented and compared to data at lower and higher energies. Around 30A GeV a rapid change of the energy dependence for the yields of pions and kaons as well as for the shape of the transverse mass spectra is observed. The change is compatible with the prediction that the threshold for production of a state of deconfined matter at the early stage of the collisions is located at low CERN Super Proton Synchroton energies.

The production of charged pions in minimum bias p+C interactions is studied using a sample of 377 000 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 1.8 GeV/c in transverse momentum and from -0.1 to 0.5 in Feynman x. Inclusive invariant cross sections are given on a grid of 270 bins per charge thus offering for the first time a dense coverage of the projectile hemisphere and of the cross-over region into the target fragmentation zone.

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The transverse mass m t distributions for antiprotons are measured at midrapidity for minimum bias Pb+Pb collisions at 158A GeV and for central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A, 30A, 40A, and 80A GeV beam energies in the fixed target experiment NA49 at the CERN SPS. The rapidity density dn/dy, inverse slope parameter T, and mean transverse mass m t derived from the m t distributions are studied as a function of the incident energy and the collision centrality and compared to the relevant data on proton production. The shapes of the m t distributions ofp and p are very similar. The ratios of the particle yields,p/p and¯ /p, are also analyzed. Thep/p ratio exhibits an increase with decreasing centrality and a steep rise with increasing beam energy. The¯ /p ratio increases beyond unity with decreasing beam energy.