From 25 to 27 April, the Laboratory of High Energy Physics JINR is hosting the ninth Collaboration Meeting of the MPD Experiment at the NICA Facility. Participants are discussing the progress in the fulfillment of the NICA project and the MPD detector.

Leader of the NICA project, VBLHEP JINR Acting Director Vladimir Kekelidze opened the event and told the audience about the progress of the NICA project. “About 80 % of preparations at NICA have been completed,” he said. Vladimir Kekelidze spoke about two successful runs at the complex: in September 2021 and the three-month commissioning run at the beginning of 2022. Almost 90 % of superconducting magnets necessary for NICA are ready for further work. Within next several months, all the magnets will be produced. Installation of ready magnetic blocks in the collider’s tunnel is underway. Construction works at the NICA complex will be completed according to the schedule in 2022. Moreover, the main substation of the complex will be brought into operation this week. Thus, all the elements of NICA will get power supply. Later, the second substation will be commissioned. There is a slight delay in the timing of the commissioning of cryogenic compressor stations. However, by the autumn of this year, work on them will be completed.

Interim Spokesperson of the MPD Collaboration Victor Riabov (PNPI) reported on the current status of the experiment. Specialists are working on the major systems of the detector: the supercompact solenoid and its yoke, the support structure, time-of-flight and time projection chambers, the electromagnetic calorimeter. “All the components of the 1st stage of the MPD experiment are under active development, that is why we expect to commission the MPD first stage in 2023,” Victor Riabov said. He also noted that there are five Physics Working Groups operating in the frames of the MPD Collaboration. They will present reports on the work done at the current three-day event.

More than 140 scientists take part in the meeting. The agenda of the event includes reports on physics observables to be measured in the experiment and plans for publication of acquired results. Participants will also discuss computing and software infrastructure for data processing. Scientists will learn about the status of the project at the excursion to the NICA complex that will take place on 26 April.