On 14–16 October, the Laboratory of High Energy Physics at JINR is hosting the 14th Collaboration Meeting of the MPD Experiment. Top of the agenda is the Multi-Purpose Detector: the participants are reviewing the construction of the NICA Accelerator Complex and new ideas and initiatives on using the detector.

In his welcome speech, JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko emphasised the obvious success the collaboration achieved in developing the experiment’s physics programme and noted the great engagement of the large number of scientists present. “Today, the VBLHEP hall is filled with numerous people working in one of the most complex and interesting fields of modern physics. I am sure that our discussion of the progress of MPD Facility’s creation and future programme of physics experiments will be interesting and productive,” Sergey Nedelko said.

The first presentation, providing an update on the accelerator complex and discussing plans for its launch, was made by NICA Chief Engineer Evgeny Syresin. The 2024 modernisation of the KRION-6T Ion Source required several commissioning runs using nitrogen, krypton, and xenon beams with an injection frequency of 10 Hz and a pulse duration of 4⋅10-6s. In order to further increase the intensity, a physics session using a xenon beam is scheduled for January 2025 at the KRION-6T – HILAC – Booster Complex. In the full configuration, Nuclotron’s beam extraction system will achieve a maximum magnetic rigidity of 38.5 Tl·m. The use of a single Lambertson magnet for beam extraction will allow achieving a maximum kinetic ion energy of 2.5 GeV/nucleon during the collider’s first commissioning runs. According to Evgeny Syresin, the preparation of the main systems of the NICA Accelerator Complex will be completed during the first half of next year, and the first ion beam will be launched in summer 2025.

MPD Collaboration Spokesperson, Chief Researcher at the VBLHEP JINR Sector of Elementary Particle Identification Victor Riabov discussed the experiment’s progress. He talked about the ongoing preparation of the MPD Detector’s key components and functional systems and presented the results of simulated data analysis. Currently, more than 500 representatives from 38 scientific centres of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Slovakia, China, and Mexico are part of the collaboration. “One of our main goals remains conducting the first commissioning run using the MPD Facility beam in 2025,” Victor Riabov said. “Along with the construction of the experimental facility, the MPD Collaboration members will continue to work on the experimental programme and implement the necessary data analysis tools and methods”.

Head of the MPD Scientific and Experimental Department Vyacheslav Golovatyuk discussed the progress of the creation and integration of key structural elements of the multipurpose detector. He presented a roadmap for the project’s implementation, indicating clear deadlines and specifics of the upcoming work. The majority of MPD’s engineering infrastructure is ready for operation. In the coming months, it is planned to finish the key phases of the installation and testing of the functional detector systems. The specialists plan to finish building the MPD Experimental Facility and launch it in 2025. “The production of all detector components for the first stage of the experiment is proceeding according to plan with minimal delays. The participants are making every effort to ensure the timely fulfilment of their tasks,” Vyacheslav Golovatyuk emphasised.

DLNP JINR Deputy Chief Engineer Konstantin Mukhin provided an update on the preparation for cooling the superconducting solenoid magnet, along with its design and parameters. A researcher at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP SB RAS) Evgeny Antokhin spoke about preparing the solenoid’s components for measuring its magnetic field in the volume of the MPD Detector. The progress of assembling the key components of the time projection chamber and the technical parameters of the facility were presented by Head of the VBLHEP JINR Track Detector Sector Sergey Movchan.

In addition, during the first day’s, the participants discussed the preparation for the operation of the facility’s following elements:

• time-of-flight (ToF) detector,
• electromagnetic calorimeter (ECal),
• forward hadron calorimeter (FHCal),
• fast forward detector (FFD),
• internal tracking system (ITS),
• trigger system,
• distributed control system (DCS).

More than 170 scientists are taking part in the meeting. The three-day event includes over 30 presentations on current research areas in heavy ion physics. On the second day, the MPD Collaboration participants will talk about issues related to computing and software for the experiment. In the afternoon, an MPD Institutional Board meeting will take place. The final session of the 14th meeting, dedicated to physics research at the experimental facility, will be held on 16 October.