No Arabic abstract
A sensitive correlation between the ground-state properties of light kaonic nuclei and the symmetry energy at high densities is constructed under the framework of relativistic mean-field theory. Taking oxygen isotopes as an example, we see that a high-density core is produced in kaonic oxygen nuclei, due to the strongly attractive antikaon-nucleon interaction. It is found that the $1S_{1/2}$ state energy in the high-density core of kaonic nuclei can directly probe the variation of the symmetry energy at supranormal nuclear density, and a sensitive correlation between the neutron skin thickness and the symmetry energy at supranormal density is established directly. Meanwhile, the sensitivity of the neutron skin thickness to the low-density slope of the symmetry energy is greatly increased in the corresponding kaonic nuclei. These sensitive relationships are established upon the fact that the isovector potential in the central region of kaonic nuclei becomes very sensitive to the variation of the symmetry energy. These findings might provide another perspective to constrain high-density symmetry energy, and await experimental verification in the future.
As the experimental data from kaonic atoms and $K^{-}N$ scatterings imply that the $K^{-}$-nucleon interaction is strongly attractive at saturation density, there is a possibility to form $K^{-}$-nuclear bound states or kaonic nuclei. In this work, we investigate the ground-state properties of the light kaonic nuclei with the relativistic mean field theory. It is found that the strong attraction between $K^{-}$ and nucleons reshapes the scalar and vector meson fields, leading to the remarkable enhancement of the nuclear density in the interior of light kaonic nuclei and the manifest shift of the single-nucleon energy spectra and magic numbers therein. As a consequence, the pseudospin symmetry is shown to be violated together with enlarged spin-orbit splittings in these kaonic nuclei.
It is very difficult for any nuclear model to pin down the saturation property and high-density equation of state (EOS) simultaneously because of high nonlinearity of the nuclear many-body problem. In this work, we propose, for the first time, to use the special property of light kaonic nuclei to characterize the relation between saturation property and high-density EOS. With a series of relativistic mean-field models, this special property is found to be the level inversion between orbitals $2S_{1/2}$ and $1D_{5/2}$ in light kaonic nuclei. This level inversion can serve as a theoretical laboratory to group the incompressibility at saturation density and the EOS at supra-normal densities simultaneously.
In the model of low-energy bar-K N interactions near threshold (EPJA 21, 11 (2004); 25, 79 (2005)) we calculate isospin-breaking corrections to the energy level displacement of the ground state of kaonic hydrogen, investigated by Meissner, Raha and Rusetsky (EPJC 35, 349 (2004)) within the non-relativistic effective Lagrangian approach based on ChPT by Gasser and Leutwyler. Our results agree well with those by Meiss ner et al.. In addition we calculate the dispersive corrections, caused by the transition K^-p -> bar-K^0n ->K^-p with the bar-K^0n pair on-mass shell. We show also how hypothesis on the dominant role of the bar-K^0n-cusp for the S-wave amplitude of low-energy K^-p scattering near threshold, used by Meissner et al., can be realized in our approach. The result agrees fully with that by Meissner et al..
Determination of the high density behavior of the symmetry energy through the simultaneous measurement of elliptic flow excitation functions of neutrons, protons and light clusters is proposed. The elliptic flow developed in relativistic heavy ion collisions has been proven theoretically and experimentally to have a unique sensitivity and robustness in probing the symmetry energy up to around $2 rho_{o}$. The knowledge of the density dependence of the symmetry energy in a broad range of densities will provide a missing link for astrophysical predictions of the neutron star mass--radius relation. In particular, the data colud provide tighter constraints on the slope parameter L and entirely new limits on $K_{sym}$, the currently poorly constrained symmetry energy curvature parameter.
The effects of an additional $K^-$ meson on the neutron and proton drip lines are investigated within Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach combined with a Skyrme-type kaon-nucleon interaction. While an extension of the proton drip line is observed due to the strongly attractive $K^-p$ interaction, contrasting effects (extension and reduction) on the neutron drip line of Be, O, and Ne isotopes are found. The origin of these differences is attributed to the behavior of the highest-occupied neutron single-particle levels near the neutron drip line.