Three-body calculations for the K - pp system within potential models R Ya Kezerashvili 1,2 , S M Tsiklauri 3 , I Filikhin 4 , V M Suslov 4 and B Vlahovic 4 1 Physics Department, New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA 2 The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, USA 3 Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York, New York, NY 10007, USA 4 North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC 27707, USA E-mail: rkezerashvili@citytech.cuny.edu Received 14 February 2016, revised 1 April 2016 Accepted for publication 7 April 2016 Published 16 May 2016 Abstract We present three-body nonrelativistic calculations within the framework of a potential model for the kaonic cluster K - pp using two methods: the method of hyperspherical harmonics in the momentum representation and the method of Faddeev equations in configuration space. To perform numerical calculations, different NN and antikaon–nucleon interactions are applied. The results of the calculations for the ground-state energy for the K - pp system obtained by both methods are in reasonable agreement. Although the ground-state energy is not sensitive to the pp interaction, it shows very strong dependence on the K - p potential. We show that the dominant clustering of the - K pp system in the configuration Λ (1405) + p allows us to calculate the binding energy to good accuracy within a simple cluster approach for the differential Faddeev equations. The theoretical discrepancies in the binding energy and width for the K - pp system related to the different pp and K - p interactions are addressed. Keywords: kaonic clusters, Faddeev equations in configuration space, method of hyperspherical harmonics (Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal) Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 43 (2016) 065104 (18pp) doi:10.1088/0954-3899/43/6/065104 0954-3899/16/065104+18$33.00 © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 1