Experimental status of deeply bound kaonic states in nuclei

We review recent claims of the existence of deeply bound kaonic states in nuclei. Also we study in details the (K-,p) reaction on C12 with 1 GeV/c momentum kaon beam, based on which a deep kaon nucleus optical potential was claimed in [1]. In our Monte Carlo simulation of this reaction we include not only the quasi-elastic K- p scattering, as in [1], but also K- absorption by one and two nucleons followed by the decay of the hyperon in pi N, which can also produce strength in the region of interest. The final state interactions in terms of multiple scattering of the K-, p and all other primary particles on their way out of the nucleus is also considered. We will show that all these additional mechanisms allow us to explain the observed spectrum with a standard shallow kaon nucleus optical potential obtained in chiral models. [1] T. Kishimoto et al., Prog. Theor. Phys. 118, 181 (2007).

Proton emission off nuclei induced by kaons in flight

We study the (K-,p) reaction on nuclei with a 1 GeV/c momentum kaon beam, paying a special attention at the region of emitted protons having kinetic energy above 600 MeV, which was used to claim a deeply attractive kaon nucleus optical potential. Our model describes the nuclear reaction in the framework of a local density approach and the calculations are performed following two different procedures: one is based on a many-body method using the Lindhard function and the other one is based on a Monte Carlo simulation. While both procedures coincide when it comes to consider the contribution of kaon quasi-elastic scattering, the simulation method offers more flexibility since it allows us to account for other processes which also contribute to the proton spectra, such as K- absorption by one and two nucleons producing hyperons. The simulation also considers final state interactions in terms of multiple scattering of the K-, p and all other primary and secondary particles on their way out of the nucleus, as well as the weak decay of the produced hyperons into (pi N). We find that this kaon in-flight reaction is not well suited to determine the kaon optical potential due, essentially, to the limited sensitivity of the cross section to its strength, but also to unavoidable uncertainties in the contribution from other processes. We also simulate the experimental requirement of having, together with the energetic proton, at least one charged particle detected in the decay counter surrounding the target, and find that the shape of the original cross section is appreciably distorted. We conclude that the new mechanisms, not considered in the analysis of the original experiment, allow us to explain the observed spectrum with the shallow kaon nucleus optical potential obtained in chiral models.

Formation of eta-mesic nuclei by (pi,N) reaction and N^*(1535) in medium

We calculate formation spectra of eta-nucleus systems in (pi,N) reactions with nuclear targets, which can be performed at existing and/or forthcoming facilities, including J-PARC, in order to investigate eta-nucleus interactions. Based on the N^*(1535) dominance in the eta N system, eta-mesic nuclei are suitable systems for study of in-medium properties of the N^*(1535) baryon resonance, such as reduction of the mass difference of N and N^* in nuclear medium, which affects level structure of the eta and N^*-hole modes. We find that clear information on the in-medium N^*- and eta-nucleus interactions can be obtained through the formation spectra of the eta-mesic nuclei. We also discuss the experimental feasibilities by showing several spectra of (pi,N) reactions calculated with possible experimental settings. Coincident measurements of pi N pairs from the N^* decays in nuclei help us to reduce backgrounds.