Deviations from the superposition model in a Dual Parton Model with formation zone cascade in both projectile and target nuclei

A Dual Parton Model with a formation zone intranuclear cascade in the spectators of the projectile and target nuclei is studied. The hadrons produced in the formation zone cascade contribute to Feynman-x(F) and lab-x distributions in the fragmentation regions of the target and projectile nuclei. We discuss the consequences of this model in the secondary cosmic ray production, by analyzing the calculated spectrum-weighted moments for pion and kaon production. We show that the proposed model leads to significant differences with respect to a superposition model, where the nucleus-nucleus collision is replaced by a few corresponding nucleon-nucleus collisions. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.