Koba-Nielsen-Olesen scaling hypothesis and the total multiplicity distribution for produced hadrons in high-energyppcollisions

Abstract

The observed high-energy scaling behavior of the charged-particle multiplicity distribution in $pp$ collisions is shown to be consistent with the hypothesis that the total multiplicity distribution for all the produced hadrons satisfies the KNO scaling prediction at present energies. This hypothesis, plus simple, experimentally valid assumptions concerning leading-particle effects and neutral- to charged-particle correlations, is found to yield the measured multiplicity characteristics of particle production in high-energy $pp$ collisions.