Lambda-hypernuclear production in stopped (K-,pion) reactions reexamined

TL;DR

This paper reevaluates Lambda-hypernuclear production rates in stopped K- reactions using DWIA calculations with chiral amplitudes, examining the impact of nuclear potentials and wavefunctions, and comparing with experimental data.

Contribution

It provides a detailed reexamination of hypernuclear production rates with updated models and explores the A dependence to address the K- nuclear potential depth issue.

Findings

Calculated rates are generally lower than experimental measurements.

Deeper K- nuclear potentials lead to larger discrepancies.

The A dependence of production rates offers insights into the K- potential depth.

Abstract

DWIA calculations of Lambda-hypernuclear production rates in stopped K- reactions on several p-shell targets used recently in experiments by the FINUDA Collaboration are reported. Chirally motivated K- + N -> pion + Lambda in-medium transition amplitudes are employed and the sensitivity of the calculated rates to the initial K- atomic wavefunctions and final pion distorted waves is studied. The calculated rates are compared with measured rates, wherever available, confirming earlier observations that (i) the calculated rates are generally lower than the measured rates, and (ii) the deeper the K- nuclear potential, the worse is the discrepancy. The A dependence of the calculated 1s Lambda hypernuclear production rates is discussed for the first time, providing a useful tool in resolving the issue of depth of the K- nuclear potential near threshold.