BOSE-EINSTEIN CORRELATIONS IN SI+AL AND SI+AU COLLISIONS AT 14.6A GEV/C

The E802 Spectrometer at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron has been used to measure the correlations in relative momentum between like-sign pions emitted in central Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6A GeV/c. Data are presented in terms of the correlation function for both identified pi- and pi+ pairs near the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass rapidity. All parametrizations of the correlation function are consistent with a spherically symmetric source of rms radius R(rms), almost-equal-to 3.5 +/- 0.4 fm and lifetime tau is similar to 2 fm/c.