A beam-beam monitoring detector

21 The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) is to be installed at the Nuclotron Ion 22 Collider fAcility (NICA) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). 23 Its main goal is to study the phase diagram of the strongly interacting matter 24 produced in heavy-ion collisions. These studies, while providing insight into the 25 physics of heavy-ion collisions, are relevant for improving our understanding of 26 the evolution of the early Universe and the formation of neutron stars. In order 27 to extend the MPD trigger capabilities, we propose to include a high granularity 28 beam-beam monitoring detector (BE-BE) to provide a level-0 trigger signal 29 with an expected time resolution of 30 ps. This new detector will improve the 30 determination of the reaction plane by the MPD experiment, a key measurement 31 for flow studies that provides physics insight into the early stages of the reaction. 32 ∗Principal corresponding author Email address: mario.rodriguez@correo.buap.mx (M. Rodŕıguez Cahuantzi) Preprint submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A February 13, 2019 In this work, we use simulated Au+Au collisions at NICA energies to show 33 the potential of such a detector to determine the event plane resolution, provid34 ing further redundancy to the detectors originally considered for such purpose 35 namely, the Fast Forward Detector (FFD) and the Hadron Calorimeter (HCAL). 36 We also show our results for the time resolution studies of two prototype cells 37 carried out at the T10 beam line at the CERN PS complex. 38