Converging upper and lower bounds for ground-state energies of atomic nuclei

The production of K⁺-mesons in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.0 to 2.3 GeV is analyzed with respect to one-step nucleon-nucleon (NN NYK⁺) and two-step -nucleon (N K⁺YN) or pion-nucleon (N K⁺Y) production channels on the basis of a coupled-channel (CBUU) transport approach including the kaon final-state-interactions (FSI). Momentum-dependent potentials for the nucleon, hyperon and kaon in the final state are included as well as K⁺ elastic rescattering in the target nucleus. The transport calculations are compared to the experimental K⁺ spectra taken at COSY-Jülich. Our systematic analysis of K⁺ spectra from ¹²C, ⁶³Cu, ¹⁰⁷Ag and ¹⁹⁷Au targets as well as their momentum differential ratios gives a repulsive K⁺ potential of 20±5 MeV at normal nuclear matter density.