Two and three nucleon K- absorption in nuclei

TL;DR

This paper explains peaks in invariant mass distributions from FINUDA experiments as resulting from K- absorption by nucleons, challenging the interpretation of these peaks as evidence of deeply bound kaonic states.

Contribution

The study provides a natural explanation for observed peaks in invariant mass distributions without invoking deeply bound K- states, emphasizing the role of multi-nucleon absorption and subsequent interactions.

Findings

Peaks explained by K- absorption on two or three nucleons

No experimental evidence for deeply bound K- states

Residual nucleus interactions influence observed signals

Abstract

We analyze the peaks in the (Lambda p) and (Lambda d) invariant mass distributions, observed in recent FINUDA experiments and claimed to be signals of deeply bound kaonic states, and find them to be naturally explained in terms of K- absorption by two or three nucleons leaving the rest of the original nuclei as spectator. For reactions on heavy nuclei, the subsequent interactions of the particles produced in the primary absorption process with the residual nucleus play an important role. Thus at present there is no experimental evidence of deeply bound K- states in nuclei. However some new physics can be extracted from the data of FINUDA experiments.