Conventional view versus FINUDA claims of a deeply bound K(-)pp state

Abstract

We critically revise the recent claims of a deeply bound K(-)pp state associated to a peak seen in the Λp invariant-mass spectrum following nuclear K- absorption reactions measured by the FINUDA Collaboration. An explicit theoretical simulation shows that the peak is simply generated from a two-nucleon absorption process, like K(-)pp -> Λp, followed by final-state interactions of the produced particles with the residual nucleus.