Dear all,
Below is the final charge from Berndt Muller for the updated LoI for an EIC detector built around the BaBar solenoid. Apologies for not sending it out to this list when it was announced at the last sPHENIX General Meeting.
Christine
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Dear Dave and Gunther
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.
I am therefore asking you to establish a detector study group consisting of members of the sPHENIX Collaboration and other individuals interested in EIC science from outside the sPHENIX Collaboration to update the Letter of Intent for an EIC detector built
around the BaBar solenoid in the context of the eRHIC pre-CDR. The Letter of Intent should contain an outline of the expected physics program for the detector in the first five years of running, using estimates of the luminosity development anticipated for
initial EIC operation.
In parallel, I am asking you to perform a cost estimate of the construction costs in FY2018 dollars. This estimate should be performed with the methodology that the NPP Director for Project Planning and Oversight of Accelerator Projects,
Diane Hatton, has developed for the EIC and that Elke Aschenauer and her group are using to develop a cost estimate for a generic EIC detector in conjunction with the ongoing pre-CDR cost estimation process. Please, do not include the cost estimate in the
updated Letter of Intent, but transmit it as a separate document.
A brief presentation on the physics capabilities of the detector should be prepared for the PAC meeting in June 2018. After receiving comments from the PAC, I expect to be able to provide feedback and further guidance with respect to the process and goals of
developing the updated LoI. The final versions of the revised LoI and the associated cost estimate should be submitted to me by September 30, 2018. The NPP Director for Project Planning and Oversight of Detector Projects, Maria Chamizo Llatas, will then convene
a review with external experts, as appropriate.
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
