Kaon Flow as a Probe of the Kaon Potential in Nuclear Medium

Abstract

The flow of kaons, i.e., the average kaon transverse momentum as a function of rapidity, and the associated flow parameter in heavy-ion collisions at energies of the heavy-ion synchrotron SIS at GSI (around 1 GeV) is investigated in the relativistic transport model. It is found that the pattern of kaon flow at the final stage is sensitive to the kaon potential used in the model and is thus a useful probe of the kaon potential in a nuclear medium.