Measurement of the In-Medium K-0 Inclusive Cross Section in pi(-)-Induced Reactions at 1.15 GeV/c

Abstract

The K-0 meson production by pi(-) mesons of 1.15 GeV/c momentum on C, Al, Cu, Sn, and Pb nuclear targets was measured with the FOPI spectrometer at the Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron accelerator of GSI. Inclusive production cross sections and the momentum distributions of K-0 mesons are compared to scaled elementary production cross sections and to predictions of theoretical models describing the in-medium production of kaons. The data represent a new reference for those models, which are widely used for interpretation of the strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions. The presented results demonstrate the sensitivity of the kaon production to the reaction amplitudes inside nuclei and point to the existence of a repulsive KN potential of 20 +/- 5 MeV at normal nuclear matter density.