On 30–31 October, the Laboratory of High Energy Physics at JINR hosted a workshop on polarised sources, polarimetry, and high-energy spin physics. During the event, the participants discussed the development of the polarisation research programme at the NICA Accelerator Complex, including the preparation of the necessary experimental equipment and key facilities, and promising cooperation areas between JINR and the leading scientific centres of the Russian Federation.

On the first day of the meeting, 10 presentations were made by researchers from VBLHEP at JINR, Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI of Kurchatov Institute), National Research Nuclear University Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (NRNU MEPhI), Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP SB RAS), Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), and the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INR RAS).

At the opening of the meeting, VBLHEP JINR Deputy Head of the Accelerator Department for Scientific Work Valery Lebedev stressed the importance of the NICA polarisation research programme. “This meeting aims to determine the development direction of a wide range of future research at the NICA Accelerator Complex,” the scientist noted. “The implementation of the polarisation programme will allow us to join efforts in implementing unique experimental studies.”

As part of his speech, he discussed plans for commissioning NICA and preparing the VBLHEP accelerator complex for the implementation of the research programme of the SPD (Spin Physics Detector) Experiment. In addition, the presentation included a review the status of the main structural elements of collider’s injection complex.

A senior researcher at the DLNP JINR Colliding Polarised Beams Group Nikolay Piskunov talked about the studies of ion recharge processes using examples of experimental results of the STRELA (VBLHEP) and ALPOM2 (JLab, USA) Projects. The presentation titled “Spin studies on the Nuclotron internal target: physics and polarimetry” was made by Head of the Division of Physics at the Nuclotron-NICA Accelerator Complex Vladimir Ladygin.

Considerable attention was paid to the topic of developing the Source of Polarised Ions (SPI), one of the key facilities of the SPD Experiment. A senior researcher at the VBLHEP JINR Polarised Ion Source Sector Alexander Solovyov spoke about the status of the polarisation programme and the SPI Facility modernisation. He noted that the current stage of the polarisation research programme at the NICA Accelerator Complex is devoted to creating a number of polarisation facilities, including a source of polarised deuterons and protons at SPI, low-energy polarimeters at SPI, and an absolute polarimeter at the NICA Collider.

The polarised ion source is a high-intensity facility of deuteron and proton polarised beams. The project aims to increase the intensity of accelerated polarised beams at NICA to 5×10 10 d(p)/pulse at a source output current of up to 10 mA for both neutrons and protons with the polarisation degree up to 90% of the maximum vector (±1) and tensor (+1,-2) polarisations.

Researchers at the PNPI High Energy Physics Division Vladislav Larionov and Anton Rozhdestvensky and a MEPhI senior researcher Alexander Stepanenko gave talks on the numerical modelling results at the SPI Facility. An INP SB RAS employee Nikolay Stupishin spoke about the progress of the modernisation of the electric arc plasma source for the polarised ion source as part of the agreement between JINR and the Budker Institute. Anatoly Zelensky (MIPT) made proposals for the development of polarimeters for SPI as well. The presentation by Alexander Belov (INR RAS) was devoted to a new promising direction in the development of polarised particle sources.

The workshop on polarised sources, polarimetry, and high-energy spin physics ended on Thursday, 31 October. During the closed round table, the participants discussed the immediate plans and further cooperation prospects.