The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) is to be installed at the Nuclotron Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). Its main goal is to study the phase diagram of the strongly interacting matter produced in heavy-ion collisions. These studies, while providing insight into the physics of heavy-ion collisions, are relevant for improving our understanding of the evolution of the early Universe and the formation of neutron stars. In order to extend the MPD trigger capabilities, we propose to include a beam-beam monitoring detector (BE-BE) to provide a level-0 trigger signal with an expected time resolution of 30 ps. This new detector will improve the determination of the reaction plane by the MPD experiment, a key measurement for flow studies that provides physics insight into the early stages of the reaction. In this work, we show the potential of such a detector to help determine the event plane resolution in simulated Au+Au collisions at NICA energies. We also show our results for the time resolution studies of two prototype cells carried out at the T10 CERN facility.

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We present the conceptual design for the miniBeBe detector proposed to be installed as a level-0 trigger for the TOF of the NICA-MPD . We discuss the design and the geometrical array of its sensitive parts, the read-out electronics as well as the mechanical support that is envisioned. We also present simulation results for p + p and Bi + Bi collisions to study its capabilities as a function of multiplicity both as a level-0 trigger for the TOF, as well as to serve as a beam-gas interaction veto and to locate the beam-beam interaction vertex.

We describe a duality transformation in a cosmological model of four time and four space dimensions ((4 + 4)-dimensions). In particular, we show that via the Fourier transform, at the level of the zero-point energy of quantum mechanics and the de Sitter space, a Gaussian distribution in four dimensions leads to a dual Gaussian distribution also in four dimensions, with duality transformation 1 σ σ → , in the standard deviation σ . Moreover, we show that as a consequence of such a duality in σ a duality of the cosmological constant Λ can be obtained. Finally, we comment on the possibility that both the oriented matroid theory as well as the surreal number theory are related to the formalism presented in this work.