Partial wave contributions to the antikaon potential at finite momentum

Abstract

The momentum dependence of the antikaon optical potential in nuclear matter is obtained from a microscopic and self-consistent calculation using the meson-exchange Jülich KN interaction. Two self-consistent schemes are discussed, which would lead to substantially different predictions for the width of K nuclear bound states. The effect of higher partial waves of the KN interaction, beyond the L=0 component, is studied and found to have moderate but nonnegligible effects on the K nuclear potential at zero momentum. At momenta as large as 500 MeV /c, relevant in the analysis of heavy-ion collisions, the higher partial partial waves modify the K optical potential by nearly a factor of two.