Formation of Hot Nuclei with GeV $\mathit{p}$ and ${\mathit{\pi }}^{-}$ Beams

$4\pi$ studies of multiple charged-particle emission in GeV ${\pi }^{-}$- and proton-induced reactions on a Au target have been performed with the ISiS detector array. Multiplicity, charge, and angular distributions yield nearly identical results for both $p$ and ${\pi }^{-}$ beams, suggesting an independence of hadron type in initiating the fast cascade and subsequent energy deposition in the struck nucleus. The excitation functions show little sensitivity to beam momentum, consistent with a saturation in deposition energy and the concept of limiting fragmentation. However, the intermediate mass fragment multiplicities and fragment charge distributions depend strongly on collision violence.