Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 37: Hadron Structure and Spectroscopy VII
HK 37.5: Talk
Thursday, March 19, 2026, 17:30–17:45, PHIL C 301
Physics performance studies of the CBM Neutron Calorimeter (NCAL) — •Dachi Okropiridze1,2, Dieter Grzonka2,3, and James Ritman2,1,3 for the CBM collaboration — 1Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (RUB), Bochum, Germany — 2GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany — 3Forschungszentrum Julich (FZJ), IKP-1, Julich, Germany
The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR aims to explore the QCD phase diagram at high net-baryon densities. Event characterization and centrality determination are currently provided by the Forward Spectator Detector (FSD), which measures charged projectile spectators. To include neutral spectators, a forward neutron calorimeter (NCAL) based on segmented plastic scintillators is proposed. This upgrade is expected to improve impact-parameter reconstruction and constrain collective flow observables.
In addition to heavy-ion reactions, NCAL enables a vibrant program in elementary reactions using the same experimental setup. We present Monte Carlo studies of channels with final-state neutrons to explore the detector's physics reach. Standalone Monte Carlo simulations characterize the NCAL response, focusing on detection efficiency and energy deposition over the relevant energy range. By propagating simulated events through the model, we obtain detector-level observables. Taken together, these studies provide first estimates of NCAL's performance for spectator measurements in heavy-ion collisions and neutron-sensitive spectroscopy in elementary channels.
Keywords: NCAL; Simulations; Pluto; Geant; Neutron