Selective excitation in kaon-nucleus inelastic scattering

The K⁺ meson (kaon) inelastic excitation of low-lying (E_x = 0–15 MeV) T = 0 collective states in ¹⁶O is theoretically studied as a function of energy and momentum transfer. The distorted wave impulse approximation is used to calculate angular distributions and total inelastic cross sections for exciting the first J^π = 2⁺, 3^?, 4⁺ and 5^? states at lab energies from threshold to 400 MeV. The distortions are represented in a Kisslinger-type optical potential constructed from elementary K⁺-nucleon amplitudes. Total nuclear elastic and reaction K⁺-nucleus cross sections are computed to demonstrate sensitivity to choice in K⁺-nucleon amplitudes. Fermi motion effects are also assessed using a simple averaging procedure. The weak absorption character of the kaon is reflected in the inelastic calculations which predict selective excitation of low spin states at low momentum transfer and high spin states at high momentum transfer.