The dynamics of multikaon systems are of relevance for several areas of nuclear physics. However, even the simplest systems, two and three kaons, are hard to prepare and study experimentally. Here we show how to extract this information using first-principle lattice QCD results. We (i) extend the relativistic three-body quantization condition to the strangeness sector, predicting for the first time the excited level finite-volume spectrum of three-kaon systems at maximal isospin and (ii) present a first lattice QCD calculation of the excited levels of this system in a finite box. We compare our predictions with the lattice results reported here and with previous ground state calculations and find very good agreement.

• Received 29 September 2020
• Accepted 15 December 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.114523

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP³.

Published by the American Physical Society