sPHENIX cold QCD topical group

["Aidala, Christine" <caidala AT bnl.gov>]

Dear Cold QCD TG members,

 

We apologize for the short notice, but Nils, Gunther, Dave, and I will hold a discussion this Friday, March 16, at 4:00 pm EDT, of how to potentially modify the draft charge from Berndt Mueller such that it allows us to move forward effectively in preparing the LOI.

 

Minutes will be sent out for those cannot attend, and individuals are encouraged to give input via this list or by contacting us directly.  The original draft charge from Berndt is below, but note that he has already agreed with Dave and Gunther to the modification that no cost estimates would be expected by the PAC meeting.  One of our main goals in proposing a further modified charge is to ensure that individuals outside of sPHENIX who are interested in EIC science can formally be part of preparing the LOI and feel welcome to do so.

 

Best regards,

Christine and Nils

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Dear Gunther & Dave:

 

As you know, the eRHIC design team is close to completing the pre-conceptual design report, the NAS Study Panel is expected to publish its assessment of the value of a US based EIC in the May time frame, and DOE may declare CD-0 for an EIC sometime in the second half of 2018. In this context it will be important that we have a clear and up-to-date understanding of the value of sPHENIX as the basis of a Day-1 eRHIC detector. The ePHENIX Letter of Intent now is four years old and urgently requires an update that takes into account the developments in detector technology and interaction region design.

 

For this reason, I ask you to establish a task force within the sPHENIX collaboration that can update the ePHENIX Letter of Intent in the context of the eRHIC pre-CDR and perform a cost estimate of the construction costs in FY2018 dollars. This estimate should be performed with the methodology that Diane Hatton has developed for EIC and that Elke Aschenauer and her group is using to develop a cost estimate for a generic EIC detector in conjunction with the ongoing pre-CDR cost estimation process. It would be useful if the Letter of Intent would contain an outline of the expected physics program for ePHENIX in the first five years of its operation using estimates of the luminosity development that Ferdinand Willeke can provide.

 

I would like to schedule a brief presentation on ePHENIX at the PAC meeting in June; thus, it would be ideal if at least a first draft of the updated LoI and the updated cost estimate would be ready internally to the collaboration. The complete version of the LoI should be ready at the time of this year’s RHIC Site Visit, which will probably be held in the second part of September 2018. I will ask Maria Chamizo-Llatas to schedule a review, similar to the one we held in 2014, when the complete versions of the LoI and cost estimate are available.

 

These are exciting times for all those interested in the physics of an EIC. The facility is finally at the doorstep from concept onto the path toward realization. I hope that this request will build on and further strengthen the excitement of all those within the sPHENIX collaboration who are looking forward to participation in a future EIC physics program.

 

Best regards

Berndt

 

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Christine A. Aidala
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
University of Michigan
(734) 764-7611