Transverse Phenomena in Pion Production in Hadronic Collisions at SPS energy

A comparative study of pion production in hadronic collisio ns at SPS energies focusing on transverse phenomena is presented. Charged pion densities in p+p, p+C, p+Pb and Pb+Pb interactions, obtained at the CERN SPS with the NA49 detecto r setup, are discussed in the forward hemisphere covering ranges in Feynman x F between 0 and 0.4 and in transverse momentum from 0 to 2.1 GeV/c. A detailed description of the da ta analysis, the corrections and centrality determination is given for p+Pb interaction s using a sample of 2 M events. These data are compared to p+p collisions in order to extract those physics quantities which indicate deviations from the elementary reaction specific t o the presence of the nucleus. The evolution of these quantities as a function of centrality is discussed. Their comparison to p+C and Pb+Pb collisions reveals a smooth dependence on the n umber of collisions per participant. In particular, the enhancement of pion yields at high transverse momentum is studied. It is shown to be governed by the superposition of the target and projectile contributions in asymmetric p+A collisions, as compared to symmetric p+p and A+A interactions. The extraction of the projectile component i n p+A reactions leads to a new interpretation of the "anomalous nuclear enhancement" kno wn as the "Cronin effect"