Scaled energy (z) distributions of charged hadrons observed in deep-inelastic muon scattering at 490 GeV from xenon and deuterium targets

Fermilab Experiment-665 measured deep-inelastic scattering of 490 GeV muons off deuterium and xenon targets. Events were selected with a range of energy exchange ν from 100 GeV to 500 GeV and with large ranges of ${\mathit{Q}}^2$ and ${\mathit{x}}_{\mathrm{Bj}}$: 0.1 ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$/${\mathit{c}}^2$<${\mathit{Q}}^2$<150 ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$/${\mathit{c}}^2$ and 0.001<${\mathit{x}}_{\mathrm{Bj}}$<0.5. The fractional energy (z) distributions of forward-produced hadrons from the two targets have been compared as a function of the kinematics of the scattering; specifically, the kinematic region of ‘‘shadowing’’ has been compared to that of nonshadowing. The dependence of the distributions upon the order of the hadrons, determined by the fractional energies, has been examined as well; a strong degree of similarity has been observed in the shapes of the distributions of the different order hadrons. These z distributions, however, show no nuclear dependence, even in the kinematic region of shadowing.