DESIGN OF THE NUCLOTRON BOOSTER IN THE NICA PROJECT

NICA is the new complex being constructed on the JINR aimed to provide collider experiments with ions up to uranium at energy of 3.5x3.5 GeV/u. The NICA layout includes Electron String Ion Source, 6.2 Mev/u linac, 600 MeV/u booster synchrotron, upgraded Nuclotron and ion collider with average luminosity of 10 27 cm -2 s -1 . The main goals of the Booster are the following: accumulation of 4·10 9 Au 32+ ions; acceleration of the heavy ions up to energy required for effective stripping; forming of the required beam emittance with electron cooling system. The present layout makes it possible to place the Booster having 211 m circumference and four fold symmetry lattice inside the yoke of the Synchrophasotron (shut down in 2002). The features of this booster, the requirement to the main synchrotron systems and their parameters are presented in this paper.