Total branching ratio of the K-two-nucleon absorption in 12C

Abstract

This work is a critical re-analysis of the results obtained by the AMADEUS collaboration, concerning the measurement of the K− multi-nucleon absorption reactions, on a 12C target, in the Λp final state. We show that a good estimate of the K− two-nucleon absorption total branching ratio can be extracted, given that the measured final state interactions and conversion reactions contain information on almost all the remaining hyperon-nucleon final state combinations. The total branching ratio of the K− two-nucleon absorption in Carbon is found to be (16±3(stat.)+4−5(syst.))%, which is in agreement with recent theoretical predictions. The missing contribution from those few channels for which a Λp pair can not be detected in the final state of the interaction is also estimated