Production of hydrogen isotopes and charged pions in p (3.5 GeV)+⁹³Nb reactions

The double -differential production cross sections d2cr /dOdE for hydrogen isotopes and charged pions in the reaction of p + 93Nb at 3.5 GeV proton beam energy have been measured by the high -acceptance dielectron spectrometer (HADES). Thanks to the high acceptance of HADES at forward emission angles and the use of its magnetic field, the measured energy range of hydrogen isotopes could be significantly extended in comparison with the relatively scarce experimental data available in the literature. The data provide information about the development of the intranuclear cascade in the proton -nucleus collisions. They can as well be utilized to study the rate of energy or momentum dissipation in the nuclear systems and the mechanism of elementary and composite particle production in excited nuclear matter at normal density. Data of this type are important also for technological and medical applications. Our results are compared with models developed to describe the processes relevant to nuclear spallation (INCL++) or oriented to probe either the elementary hadronic processes in nuclear matter or the behavior of compressed nuclear matter (GiBUU).