Effective kaon mass in dense baryonic matter: role of correlations

We evaluate the effective kaon mass in dense nuclear matter. Pauli blocking and nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations are incorporated. The effects of short-range correlations are shown to be moderate and figure importantly only at densities larger than 2 times normal nuclear density. We discuss the relations between the present results and the results obtained in next-to-next-to-leading order chiral perturbation theory (${{\cal O} (Q^3)}$, where $Q$ is the characteristic small energy-momentum scale probed). We also discuss mean-field aspects, with some remarks on the relation between the short-range correlations and the four-Fermi contact terms in the chiral effective Lagrangian.