Neutral kaon production in p+p and p+Nb collisions

摘要

The kaon nucleus (KN) interaction in dense nuclear matter is predicted to be repulsive and increasing with density. However, determined values for this potential are not yet consistent with each other (Benabderrahmane et al., Phys Rev Lett 102:182501, 2009; Agakishiev et al., Phys Rev C 82:044907, 2010; Büscher et al., Eur Phys J A 22:301–317, 2004). We analyze K_S~0 mesons identified with the HADES detector in p+p and p+~(93)Nb reactions at 3.5 GeV kinetic beam energy. To determine the KN potential at normal nuclear density we propose to compare the K_S~0 S differential distributions in p+~(93)Nb and p+p collisions. High statistics of low p_t-kaons (p_t < 100 MeV/c) ensure the sensitivity of our measurements to the nuclear matter effects. We present the data analysis method and first results.