Measurement of the in-medium K0 inclusive cross section in pi(-) -induced reactions at 1.15 GeV/c

The K0 meson production by pi(-) mesons of 1.15 GeV/c momentum on C, Al, Cu, Sn, and Pb nuclear targets was measured with the FOPI spectrometer at the Schwer-Ionen-Synchrotron accelerator of GSI. Inclusive production cross sections and the momentum distributions of K0 mesons are compared to scaled elementary production cross sections and to predictions of theoretical models describing the in-medium production of kaons. The data represent a new reference for those models, which are widely used for interpretation of the strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions. The presented results demonstrate the sensitivity of the kaon production to the reaction amplitudes inside nuclei and point to the existence of a repulsive KN potential of 20+/-5 MeV at normal nuclear matter density.