MULTI-$\bar K$ (HYPER)NUCLEI AND KAON CONDENSATION
We report on recent relativistic mean-field calculations of multi-[Formula: see text] nuclei1,2 which were performed fully and self-consistently across the periodic table. The [Formula: see text] separation energy [Formula: see text] as well as the nuclear and [Formula: see text]-meson densities were found to saturate with the number of antikaons in the nuclear medium. Saturation appears robust against a wide range of variations, including the nuclear model used and the type of boson fields mediating the strong interactions. In addition, we have explored properties of kaonic hypernuclei — strange systems made of nucleons, hyperons and K- mesons. We observed saturation also in these objects. Since the [Formula: see text] separation energy [Formula: see text] does not exceed 200 MeV, multi-[Formula: see text] nuclei lie energetically well above multi-hyperonic nuclei and it is unlikely that kaon condensation could occur in strong-interaction self-bound hadronic matter.