Experimental investigation of strong interaction effects in kaonic and antiprotonic atoms

The effect of the strong interaction between the nucleus and negatively charged kaons and antiprotons in atomic orbit about this nucleus is investigated experimentally for a number of nuclei by observing the x-rays emitted during radiative transitions between atomic levels. In the present work, x-ray data are presented from kaonic atoms of Al, Si, Ni, Cu, Pb, and U and from antiprotonic N and O. Best-fit phenomenological potentials are given. It is found that the Ni data is in poor agreement with the predicted optical potential values, which may be an indictment of the model, or may reflect an anomaly in the nuclear surface matter distribution which is not displayed in the charge distribution as deduced from electron scattering and muonic atom data. A discussion is given as to the sensitivity of the data to surface density and their usefulness as a test of future models