Upgrading the Baryonic Matter at the Nuclotron Experiment at NICA for Studies of Dense Nuclear Matter

The Nuclotron at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna can deliver gold beams with kinetic energies between 2 and 4.5 A GeV. In heavy-ion collisions at these energies, it is expected that the nuclear fireball will be compressed by up to approximately four times the saturation density. This offers the opportunity to study the high-density equation-of-state (EOS) of nuclear matter in the laboratory, which is needed for our understanding of the structure of neutron stars and the dynamics of neutron star mergers. The Baryonic Matter at the Nuclotron (BM@N) experiment will be upgraded to perform multi-differential measurements of hadrons including (multi-) strange hyperons, which are promising probes of the high-density EOS, and of new phases of quantum chromodynamic (QCD) matter. The layout of the upgraded BM@N experiment and the results of feasibility studies are presented.