Kaon Production in Heavy-Ion Collisions and Maximum Mass of Neutron Stars

We determine an ``empirical'' kaon dispersion relation by analyzing and fitting recent experimental data on kaon production in heavy-ion collisions. We then investigate its effects on the hadronic equation of state at high densities and on neutron star properties. We find that the maximum mass of neutron stars can be lowered by about ${0.4M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ once kaon condensation as constrained by our empirical dispersion relation is introduced. We emphasize the growing interplay between hadron physics, relativistic heavy-ion physics, and the physics of compact objects in astrophysics.