Wide-acceptance measurement of the K−/K+ ratio from Ni+Ni collisions at 1.91A GeV

The FOPI Collaboration at the GSI SIS-18 synchrotron measured charged kaons from central and semicentral collisions of Ni+Ni at a beam energy of 1.91A GeV. We present the distribution of the K−/K+ ratio on the energy vs polar angle plane in the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass frame, with and without subtraction of the contribution of ϕ(1020) meson decays to the K− yield. The acceptance of the current experiment is substantially wider compared to the previous measurement of the same colliding system. The ratio of K− to K+ energy spectra is expected to be sensitive to the in-medium modifications of basic kaon properties like mass. Recent results obtained by the HADES Collaboration at 1.23A and 1.76A GeV indicate that after inclusion of the ϕ meson decay contribution to the K− production no difference between the slopes of the K− and K+ energy spectra is observed within uncertainties. For our data a linear fit to this ratio obtained after subtraction of the ϕ meson contribution still shows a decrease with kinetic energy, although a constant value cannot be rejected. The contribution of Λ(1520)→pK− decays estimated from fitting the thermal model to the experimental yields appears to be another factor of moderate relevance.