Inclusiveπ0production inπ−pandπ+pinteractions at 18.5 GeV/c

We have studied ${\pi }^0$ production in 18.5-GeV/c ${\pi }^{-}p$ and ${\pi }^{+}p$ interactions by using the photons from ${\pi }^0$ decay which convert to electron pairs in hydrogen. The inclusive ${\pi }^0$ cross sections for different charged multiplicities have been determined. The dependence of the invariant cross section on the Feynman scaling variable $x$ is presented. The ${\pi }^0$ production process is compared with ${\pi }^{-}$ and ${\pi }^{+}$ production for each reaction. We observe that the ${\pi }^0$ spectrum is similar to the ${\pi }^{+}$ spectrum in ${\pi }^{-}p$ interactions and to the ${\pi }^{-}$ spectrum in ${\pi }^{+}p$ interactions.