We compute the Coulomb effects produced by an expanding, highly charged
fireball on the momentum distribution of pions. We compare our results to data
on Au+Au at 11.6 A GeV from E866 at the BNL AGS and to data on Pb+Pb at 158 A
GeV from NA44 at the CERN SPS. We conclude that the distortion of the spectra
at low transverse momentum and mid-rapidity can be explained in both
experiments by the effect of the large amount of participating charge in the
central rapidity region. By adjusting the fireball expansion velocity to match
the average transverse momentum of protons, we find a best fit when the
fireball radius is about 10 fm, as determined by the moment when the pions
undergo their last scattering. This value is common to both the AGS and CERN
experiments.Comment: Enlarged discussion, new references added, includes new analysis of
pi-/pi+ at AGS energies. 12 pages 5 figures, uses LaTex and epsfi