Abstract and subjects
This paper presents multiplicity measurements of charged hadrons produced in 120 GeV/c protoncarbon interactions. The measurements were made using data collected at the NA61/SHINE experiment during two different data-taking periods, with increased phase space coverage in the second configuration due to the addition of new subdetectors. Particle identification via dE/dx was employed to obtain double-differential production multiplicities of pi(+), pi(-), p, (p) over bar, K+ and K-. These measurements are presented as a function of laboratory momentum in intervals of laboratory polar angle covering the range from 0 to 450 mrad. They provide crucial inputs for current and future long-baseline neutrino experiments, where they are used to estimate the initial neutrino flux.