Probing the nucleus with K+ mesons

The K+ meson is a good tool for probing the nucleus because it has a long mean-free path in the nuclear medium. The weak K+--N force allows a straightforward construction of a first-order optical model potential (OMP). The OMP can be used to make predictions for both the total cross section and for K+ elastic scattering. Since second-order corrections to the optical potential are expected to be small, comparisons between the OMP predictions and data can test ideas of possible nuclear medium modifications of the fundamental K+--N interaction. New data for the differential cross section of K+ elastic scattering from 12C are presented and compared with theoretical models. copyright 1995 American Institute of Physics