Overview of strong interaction from kaonic atoms

Abstract

Experiments on kaonic atoms between 1972 and 1982 at four world-class laboratories established a data base comprising of 24 species along the periodic table. Here we present a short overview of methods for obtaining strong interaction information from these results. Early straight-forward phenomenological analyses and also more sophisticated approaches led to ambiguities and open problems. Using state-of-the-art K̄-nucleon amplitudes plus a phenomelogical multinucleon term can fit the data only when sub-threshold energies are considered. Remaining ambiguities are removed with the help of old bubble-chamber experiments on single-nucleon absorption fraction at threshold.