Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13:

This thesis describes a study of the production of high transverse momentum direct photons and [pi]0 mesons by proton beams at 530 and 800 GeV/c and [pi]- beams at 515 GeV/c incident on beryllium, copper, and liquid hydrogen targets. The data were collected by Fermilab experiment E706 during the 1990 and 1991-92 fixed target runs. The apparatus included a large, finely segmented lead and liquid argon electromagnetic calorimeter and a charged particle spectrometer featuring silicon strip detectors in the target region and proportional wire chambers and drift tubes downstream of a large aperture analysis magnet. The inclusive cross sections are presented as functions of transverse momentum and rapidity. The measurements are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and to results from previous experiments.