# Exposing strangeness: projections for kaon electromagnetic form factors

## TL;DR

This paper uses a continuum approach to study the electromagnetic structure of kaons and pions, showing that standard models are accurate at certain energy scales and revealing differences in strange matter distribution within kaons.

## Contribution

It provides a novel continuum framework for analyzing kaon and pion form factors, including predictions at timelike momenta beyond resonance regions.

## Key findings

- Standard Model formulas are accurate within 25% at Q^2 ≈ 8 GeV^2.
- The strange matter distribution in kaons peaks at a ratio of 1.5 around Q^2 ≈ 6 GeV^2.
- Projections for form factors at higher momenta are presented for experimental planning.

## Abstract

A continuum approach to the kaon and pion bound-state problems is used to reveal their electromagnetic structure. For both systems, when used with parton distribution amplitudes appropriate to the scale of the experiment, Standard Model hard-scattering formulae are accurate to within 25% at momentum transfers $Q^2 \approx 8\,$GeV$^2$. There are measurable differences between the distribution of strange and normal matter within the kaons, e.g. the ratio of their separate contributions reaches a peak value of $1.5$ at $Q^2 \approx 6\,$GeV$^2$. Its subsequent $Q^2$-evolution is accurately described by the hard scattering formulae. Projections for kaon and pion form factors at timelike momenta beyond the resonance region are also presented. These results and projections should prove useful in planning next-generation experiments.