Strangeness Production at 1 - 2 A GeV

The production of K+ and K- mesons below and at the NN threshold is summarized, based on a comparison of data with transport model calculations. K+ mesons are created in associate production together with hyperons (e.g. Lambda) in multi-step processes involving Delta resonances. These processes occur mainly during the high-density phase of the collision and this makes the K+ an ideal tool to extract the stiffness of the nuclear equation of state, found to be rather soft with a compressibility modulus K below 240 MeV. In contrast, the major part of K- mesons are produced via strangeness exchange. Most of the created K- are absorbed and the surviving ones are emitted quite late and at low densities.