In flight (K - , N) Reactions for Study of Kaon nucleus Interaction

Abstract

We would like to emphasize that the inflight (K-, N) reactions are particularly useful for the study of the Knucleus interaction. Since the reaction mechanism is well known, there is little ambiguity to derive the Knucleus interaction from the measured missing mass spectra. Here we discuss the missing mass spectra of the (K-, N) reactions on the 12C and 16O targets. The spectra show an appreciable amount of strength below the Knucleus threshold which indicates that the Knuclear potential is strongly attractive. Comparison of the missing mass spectra with theoretical calculations leads to a potential depth of around -190 MeV for the 12C(K-, n) reaction. A less deep potential of around -160 MeV reproduces well that of the 12C(K-, p) reaction. The difference can be due to isospin dependence of the interaction. Our data show that the Knucleus potential is very deep to realize kaon condensation in the core of neutron stars.