Measurements of charged pion and kaon production in central PbϩPb collisions at 40, 80, and 158 A GeV are presented. These are compared with data at lower and higher energies as well as with results from pϩp interactions. The mean pion multiplicity per wounded nucleon increases approximately linearly with s NN 1/4 with a change of slope starting in the region 15-40 A GeV. The change from pion suppression with respect to p ϩp interactions, as observed at low collision energies, to pion enhancement at high energies occurs at about 40A GeV. A nonmonotonic energy dependence of the ratio of K ϩ to ϩ yields is observed, with a maximum close to 40A GeV and an indication of a nearly constant value at higher energies. The measured dependences may be related to an increase of the entropy production and a decrease of the strangeness to entropy ratio in central PbϩPb collisions in the low SPS energy range, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a transient state of deconfined matter is created above these energies. Other interpretations of the data are also discussed.

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Production cross sections of K 1 and K 2 mesons have been measured in C 1 C collisions at beam energies per nucleon below and near the nucleon-nucleon threshold. At a given beam energy, the spectral slopes of the K 2 mesons are significantly steeper than the ones of the K 1 mesons. The excitation functions for K 1 and K 2 mesons nearly coincide when correcting for the threshold energy. In contrast, the K 1 yield exceeds the K 2 yield by a factor of about 100 in proton-proton collisions at beam energies near the respective nucleon-nucleon thresholds. [S0031-9007 (99)08547-6] PACS numbers: 25.75.DwThe properties of strange mesons in a medium of finite baryon density are essential for our understanding of the strong interaction. According to various theoretical approaches, antikaons feel strong attractive forces in the nuclear medium, whereas the in-medium kaon-nucleon potential is expected to be slightly repulsive [1][2][3][4][5].Predictions have been made that the effective mass of the K 2 meson decreases with increasing nuclear density leading to K 2 condensation in neutron stars above 3 times saturation density r 0 . This effect is expected to influence significantly the evolution of supernova explosions: the K 2 condensate softens the nuclear equation of state and thus causes a core with 1.5-2 solar masses to collapse into a black hole rather than to form a neutron star [6,7].Experimental evidence for the attractive in-medium K 2 N potential was found in K 2 nucleus scattering [8] and kaonic atoms [9]. Strong effects are expected in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions where baryonic densities of several times the saturation density r o can be reached. Under these conditions the K 2 effective mass will be reduced and thus the kinematical threshold for the process NN ! K 2 1 K 1 1 NN (which in free space corresponds to a kinetic beam energy of 2.5 GeV) will be lowered. As a consequence, the K 2 yield in A 1 A collisions at bombarding energies below the NN threshold will be enhanced significantly as compared to the case without in-medium mass reduction. In contrast, the yield of K 1 mesons is predicted to be decreased as the K 1 effective mass and thus the in-medium K 1 production threshold is slightly increased [3,10,11]. The in-medium KN potentials are also expected to affect the propagation of kaons and antikaons, hence modifying their emission pattern in nucleus-nucleus collisions.According to these considerations, the K 2 ͞K 1 ratio observed in nucleus-nucleus collisions at beam energies below the NN threshold is sensitive to the in-medium properties of kaons and antikaons. Moreover, relativistic transport calculations find distinct differences in the K 1 and K 2 spectral slopes, again due to medium effects. In particular, these calculations predict that the K 2 spectra fall off steeper than the K 1 spectra due to the decrease of the K 2 effective mass in the nuclear medium [12].Recent experimental studies of kaon and antikaon production in Ni 1 Ni collisions found a large K 2 yield at 1.8A GeV [13,14], a...

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 pions and kaons has been measured in 197 Au+ 197 Au collisions at beam energies from 0.6 to 1.5 A·GeV with the Kaon Spectrometer at SIS/GSI. The K + meson multiplicity per nucleon is enhanced in Au+Au collisions by factors up to 6 relative to C+C reactions whereas the corresponding π ratio is reduced. The ratio of the K + meson excitation functions for Au+Au and C+C collisions increases with decreasing beam energy. This behavior is expected for a soft nuclear equation-of-state.

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We look for fluctuations expected for the QCD critical point using an intermittency analysis in the transverse momentum phase space of protons produced around midrapidity in the 12.5% most central C+C, Si+Si and Pb+Pb collisions at the maximum SPS energy of 158A GeV. We find evidence of power-law fluctuations for the Si+Si data. The fitted power-law exponent φ2 = 0.96 +0.38 −0.25 (stat.) ±0.16 (syst.) is consistent with the value expected for critical fluctuations. Power-law fluctuations had previously also been observed in low-mass π + π − pairs in the same Si+Si collisions.