Formation of Kaonic Atoms and Kaonic Nuclei in In-Flight (K-,p) Reactions

Abstract

We study the kaonic atom and kaonic nucleus formation by the in-flight ($K^-, p$) reactions for C, O, Si and Ca target cases theoretically. Deeply bound kaonic atoms were predicted to exist as quasi-stable states and were expected to be observed in some proper experimental methods. Kaonic nuclear states are also expected to exist with large decay widths. We evaluate the formation cross sections of the kaonic atoms and kaonic nuclei using an effective number approach. We show that the indications of the kaonic bound states can be observed in the outgoing proton energy spectra.