Beam test study of the MRPC-based T0 detector for the CEE

The main function of HIRFL-CSR external target experiment (CEE) is to detect the final-state particles produced in heavy-ion collisions with large acceptance, and provide important measurements to understand foundamental questions in the nuclear physics field, e.g. the nuclear equation of state in high baryon number density and the nuclear phase diagram. A new T0/Trigger detector based on multi-gap resistive plate chamber (MRPC) technology has been constructed and tested for the CEE. It measures the multiplicity and timing information of particles produced in heavy-ion collisions at the target region, providing necessary event collision time (T0) and collision centrality with high precision. Monte-Carlo simulation shows a time resolution of several tens of picosecond can be achieved at central collisions. The experimental tests have been performed for this prototype detector with both hadron beam and heavy-ion beam. The preliminary results are shown to demonstrate the performance of the T0/Trigger detector.