Nuclear medium effects on the K* meson

Abstract

The K* meson in dense matter is analyzed by means of a unitary approach in coupled channels based on the local hidden gauge formalism. The K* self-energy and the corresponding K* spectral function in the nuclear medium are obtained. We observe that the K* develops a width in matter up to five times bigger than in free space. We also estimate the transparency ratio of the γA→K +K*-A' reaction. This ratio is an excellent tool to detect experimentally modifications of the K* meson in dense matter. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.