Contribution of the reactionNY→NNK¯to antikaon production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

The isospin-averaged cross section for the reaction $\mathrm{N}Y\to \mathrm{NN}\overline{\mathrm{K}}$ is calculated in the one-pion exchange model. This reaction is relevant to the production of antikaons in heavy-ion collisions at subthreshold energies. Using a simplified kinetic model in which antikaons are produced from the interaction of hyperons with the thermalized participant hadrons, it is estimated that the contribution to antikaon productions from the reaction $\mathrm{N}Y\to \mathrm{NN}\overline{\mathrm{K}}$ is only a few percent of that from the reaction $\pi Y\to \mathrm{N}\overline{\mathrm{K}}$.