submitter : Open Charm Measurements at CERN SPS Energies with the New Vertex Detector of the NA61/SHINE Experiment

The heavy-ion programme of the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS has been expanded to allow precise measurements of exotic particles with short lifetime. The study of open charm meson production is a sensitive tool for new detailed investigations of the properties of hot and dense matter formed in nucleus-nucleus collisions. In particular, it offers new possibilities for studies of such phenomena as in- medium parton energy loss and quarkonium dissociation and possible regeneration, thus providing new information to probe deconfinement.  A new high resolution Vertex Detector was designed for the NA61/SHINE experiment for measurements of the very rare processes of open charm production in nucleus- nucleus collisions at the SPS. It will meet the challenges of track registration and of very precise spatial resolution in primary and secondary vertex reconstruction required for the identification of