K ⁺-nucleon amplitudes in the medium below 800 MeV/c

Simple in-medium meson-nucleon kinematics has been applied recently in calculations of strong interaction effects in kaonic atoms, pionic atoms and elastic scattering of low energy pions by nuclei. More sensitive tests of this approach are possible with K⁺-nucleus interactions below 800 MeV/c because of the superior penetration of kaons into nuclei. The energy dependence of calculated reaction and total cross sections for K⁺ on ⁶Li, C, Si and Ca agrees better with experiment when this approach is used. Calculated absolute scales are in full agreement with experiment for the very low density nucleus ⁶Li whereas calculations are 23±4 % too low for C, Si and Ca, thus quantifying phenomenologically the enhancement in the nuclear medium observed before.