Status and initial physics performance studies of the MPD experiment at NICA

TL;DR

This paper discusses the status and initial physics performance of the MPD experiment at NICA, highlighting its design, components, and potential contributions to understanding the QCD phase diagram at high baryonic density.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed overview of MPD's setup, subsystems, and initial performance studies, emphasizing its unique role in exploring the QCD phase diagram.

Findings

MPD components are in production and ready for data taking.

Performance studies show promising capabilities for physics measurements.

The experiment will provide new insights into the QCD phase diagram at high baryonic density.

Abstract

The Nuclotron-base Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) is under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), with commissioning of the facility expected in late 2022. The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) has been designed to operate at NICA and its components are currently in production. The detector is expected to be ready for data taking with the first beams from NICA. This document provides an overview of the landscape of the investigation of the QCD phase diagram in the region of maximum baryonic density, where NICA and MPD will be able to provide significant and unique input. It also provides a detailed description of the MPD set-up, including its various subsystems as well as its support and computing infrastructures. Selected performance studies for particular physics measurements at MPD are presented and discussed in the context of existing data and theoretical expectations.