Wide-acceptance measurement of the K−/K+ ratio from Ni+Ni collisions at 1.91A GeV

The FOPI Collaboration at GSI SIS-18 synchrotron measured the charged kaons from central and semi-central collisions of Ni+Ni at the beam energy of 1.91A GeV. We present the distribution of K$^-$/K$^+$ ratio on the plane of energy vs polar angle in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass frame, with and without the subtraction of the contribution of $\varphi$(1020) meson decays to the K$^-$ yield. The acceptance of the current experiment is substantially wider compared to the previous measurement of the same colliding system. The K$^-$/K$^+$ ratio is expected to be sensitive to the in-medium modifications of basic kaon properties like mass. Recent results obtained by the HADES Collaboration at 1.23A and 1.76A GeV indicate, that no mass-shift effect is needed to explain the difference between energy slopes of charged kaon spectra within uncertainties. The K$^-$/K$^+$ ratios obtained in this experiment, even after correction for the contribution due to the $\varphi$(1020) meson decays, decrease with increasing kinetic energy, as generally predicted in models assuming mass modifications.