Role of the spectator system in electromagnetic effects

The electromagnetic effects on charged pion ($\pi^+,\pi^-$) spectra provide new, independent information on the space-time evolution of the ultrarelativistic heavy ion collision. The spectator life time and its excitation energy may also be of importance for the understanding of the space-time evolution of the participant zone. This paper gives an overview of our coordinated effort to understand the interplay between electromagnetic phenomena and processes related to the fragmentation of the spectator system at forward rapidity in peripheral $Pb$+$Pb$ collisions at top CERN SPS energies. Our study includes on one hand the experimental analysis of electromagnetic effects and corresponding phenomenological Monte Carlo simulations, and on the other hand dedicated theoretical calculations based on the Abrasion-Ablation model ABRABLA and the 4D Langevin approach.