Nucleon-Antinucleon Interaction Laboratory

Researchers of the laboratory are collaborating to the experiment of the European Centre for Antiproton and Ion Research (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research - FAIR, Darmstadt, Germany) and to the PANDA detector (anti-Proton Annihilations at Darmstadt), located on the High Energy Storage Ring (HESR). Currently, the preparation of this experiment involves more than 400 researchers from 17 countries, including Russian physicists from leading institutes of Physics.
A large number of different particles, including so-called exotic particles, composed of quarks, will be produced by this experiment by the collision of a proton or of a nuclear target with a high-intensity monochromatic beam of antiprotons at energies up to 15 GeV. The experiment will allow studying the properties of hadrons and to clarify their physical characteristics. The data obtained will allow verifying existing theoretical interpretation of elementary particles interactions and will enable to further develop the theory. Within the next 20 years PANDA will be the unique experiment in the world using high-energy antiproton beams. Launch of the experiment is planned for 2026.

Fields of research and development of the laboratory:

Development of a forward Cherenkov rings detector for particle identification - Forward RICH (Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector) in the forward spectrometer of the PANDA detector. In the Forward Rich a unique nanomaterial will be used - silica aerogel, produced by the Institute of Catalysis of the SB RAS and the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the SB RAS. An important requirement for Cherenkov rings detector using aerogel is that aerogel radiator must have a good transparency, which particularly depends on the quality of the surface of the blocks of aerogel. A method for polishing the surface of the blocks of aerogel with little lost in transmittance was developed.