Precision X-ray spectroscopy of kaonic atoms as a probe of low-energy kaon-nucleus interaction

TL;DR

This paper discusses high-precision X-ray spectroscopy of kaonic atoms to investigate the low-energy interactions between kaons and nuclei, providing insights into the strong force in exotic atomic systems.

Contribution

The study presents precise measurements of energy shifts and widths in kaonic atoms, offering new experimental data on kaon-nucleus interactions at low energies.

Findings

Determined the 1s state shift and width for K−p with high precision.

Measured the 2p state shift and width for kaonic helium-3 and helium-4.

Provided valuable data for understanding the strong interaction in exotic atoms.

Abstract

In the exotic atoms where one atomic $1s$ electron is replaced by a $K^{-}$, the strong interaction between the $K^{-}$ and the nucleus introduces an energy shift and broadening of the low-lying kaonic atomic levels which are determined by only the electromagnetic interaction. By performing X-ray spectroscopy for Z=1,2 kaonic atoms, the SIDDHARTA experiment determined with high precision the shift and width for the $1s$ state of $K^{-}p$ and the $2p$ state of kaonic helium-3 and kaonic helium-4. These results provided unique information of the kaon-nucleus interaction in the low energy limit.