Peripheral fragmentation of the ⁸B nuclei at an energy of 1.2A GeV in nuclear track emulsion

The results of investigations dealing with the charge topology of the fragments produced in peripheral dissociation of relativistic $^8$B nuclei in emulsion are presented. 55 events of peripheral dissociation of the $^8$B nucleus were selected from the events which do not involve the production of the target-nucleus fragments and mesons (`` white\rq\rq ~stars). A leading contribution of the $^8$B$\to^7$Be+p mode having the lowest energy threshold was revealed on the basis of those events. Information on the relative probability of dissociation modes with a larger multiplicity was obtained. The dissociation of a $^7$Be core in $^8$B indicates an analogy with that of the free $^7$Be nucleus.\par The transverse momentum distributions of the fragments from the $^8$B$\to^7$Be+p dissociation mode were obtained. Their small average value, $<$P$_t>$= 52 MeV/c, in the c.m.s. suggests a low binding energy of the external proton in the $^8$B nucleus. An indication for a strong azimuthal correlation of the $^7$Be and p fragments was got.