How to determine experimentally the K+ nucleus potential and the K+ N rescattering cross section in a hadronic environment?

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to experimentally determine the K+ nucleus potential and K+N rescattering cross section in a hadronic environment by analyzing low transverse momentum spectra across different symmetric collision systems at around 1 AGeV.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental approach using spectrum ratios to extract K+ potential and rescattering cross section, minimizing uncertainties from other variables.

Findings

The method allows direct determination of K+ nucleus potential.

It enables extraction of K+N rescattering cross section.

Transport model calculations support the approach.

Abstract

Comparing K+ spectra at low transverse momenta for different symmetric collision systems at beam energies around 1 AGeV allows for a direct determination of both the strength of the K+ nucleus potential as well as of the K+N rescattering cross section in a hadronic environment. Other little known or unknown quantities which enter the K+ dynamics, like the production cross sections of K+ mesons or the hadronic equation of state, do not spoil this signal as they cancel by using ratios of spectra. This procedure is based on transport model calculations using the Isospin Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model which describes the available data quantitatively.