Nuclear Fragment Emission in High-Energyp-Xe andp-Kr Collisions and a Description of Their Production Mechanism

We have studied the energy distributions of Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Ne, Na, Mg, Al, and Si emerging from high-energy proton-xenon and proton-krypton collisions in the $20<\mathrm{}{p}_{\mathrm{inc}}<400\mathrm{}$ GeV/c momentum range. Based on the fragment mass dependence of the slope characterizing these energy distributions, there is a natural division of the fragments into two groups. The production of fragments heavier than carbon can be understood in terms of a two-body disintegration of a residual nucleus possessing a single slope parameter.