  The antikaon optical potential in hot and dense nuclear matter is studied
within the framework of a coupled-channel self-consistent calculation taking,
as bare meson-baryon interaction, the meson-exchange potential of the J\"ulich
group. Typical conditions found in heavy-ion collisions at GSI are explored. As
in the case of zero temperature, the angular momentum components larger than
L=0 contribute significantly to the finite temperature antikaon optical
potential at finite momentum. It is found that the particular treatment of the
medium effects has a strong influence on the behavior of the antikaon potential
with temperature. Our self-consistent model, in which antikaons and pions are
dressed in the medium, gives a moderately temperature dependent antikaon
potential which remains attractive at GSI temperatures, contrary to what one
finds if only nuclear Pauli blocking effects are included.

Nuclear Theory