MEPhI and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research signed a Memorandum of Understanding, according to which the scientific group of our university will take part in the SPD (Spin Physics Detector) experiment at the NICA collider (Dubna).

Fourth meeting of the SPD collaboration. April 26, 2023
 

The memorandum was signed on behalf of JINR - by the Director of the Institute Grigory Trubnikov and the leaders of the SPD experiment Viktor Kim and Aleksey Guskov; from the side of MEPhI - by the rector of the university Vladimir Shevchenko and the head of the scientific group, associate professor of the MEPhI Grigory Nigmatkulov.

The main purpose of the SPD experiment is to solve one of the most important problems of elementary particle physics - the problem of the origin of the spin of nucleons (particles that form the atomic nucleus).

Among the tasks of the MEPhI group in the SPD experiment, the following can be distinguished: development and creation of a scintillation detector that measures the relative polarization of colliding beams; assessment of the contribution of the gluon component to the proton spin, participation in the ion physics research program.

In addition, MEPhI will develop software for the computer infrastructure of the experiment. Training for the latter task is the main goal of the new master's program launched by MEPhI this year.

The scientific group includes 17 employees, students and postgraduates of the MEPhI. The developments were supported by the Priority 2030 State Program.

According to preliminary plans, the SPD experiment should be launched in 2028.