sPHENIX is a new detector at RHIC.

[David Morrison <morrison AT bnl.gov>]

Dear sPHENIX collaborator,

In lieu of the General Meeting that was canceled last Friday, please 
enjoy the following news update on several things of relevance to the 
collaboration.

Regards,
Dave and Gunther

Highlighting sPHENIX collaborators

  Each month we're recognizing the important contributions to the
  collaboration of early career members of the sPHENIX collaboration.
  This month, we're shining a bright light on the excellent
  contributions of Genki Nukazuka (RBRC) and Charles Hughes (ISU).  To
  read all about Genki and Charles, see the growing list of honorees
  here: https://www.sphenix.bnl.gov/node/1751378401

New TG conveners

  We're happy to announce that Virginia Bailey (GSU) will be the new
  Jet Structure TG co-convener, joining Raghav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli
  (VU) in convening that group.  Thanks again to Megan Conners (GSU),
  as she hands the convener baton to Virginia, for her excellent work
  as co-convener of the JS TG.

  We're also thrilled to announce that JaeBeom Park (UC) will be a
  second co-convener of the Bulk TG, working alongside Ron Belmont
  (UNCG).

  We had many excellent nominees for these convenership roles and we
  look forward to coming back to the other nominees for their help in
  driving other aspects of the scientific collaboration.

Run-24 Spin Coordinator

  Itaru Nakagawa has agreed to serve as the Run-24 Spin Coordinator.
  This is a important role, working with the Run Coordinator and the
  Operations Director

sPHENIX collaboration meeting

  The next sPHENIX collaboration meeting will take place December
  4--6, 2023 at BNL.  The agenda is still under development, but the
  Indico page can be found here
  https://indico.bnl.gov/event/21052/. We're asking people to register
  for this meeting and the registration page is linked to the agenda
  above.  Although there's no registration fee, we will collect $20
  from everyone that attends in person to help us provide coffee and
  other refreshments during the meeting.

  There will be a Juniors' social event.  Funding for food for that
  event will be provided by BNL.

  Please register for the collaboration meeting and make your plans to
  be at BNL during that first week of December.  As of this writing,
  we have 58 participants, but we expect this number will go up a lot
  during the coming days.

TPC review

  There was a review on Wednesday, November 8, of the plans for
  addressing operational issues with the TPC HV.  The agenda for that
  review can be found here: https://indico.bnl.gov/event/21053/

  The plan that was presented is to replace the detector-mounted
  voltage divider boards which provide specific voltages to each GEM
  foil with connectors and cables leading to off-detector racks. In
  the full version of the plan, those racks will be populated with
  CAEN cascading power supplies, allowing specific control over the
  voltage for each "stripe" of each GEM foil.  Even without a full
  complement of those new power supplies, the voltage divider chains
  can be located in an accessible location and modified if necessary.

Meeting with ALD

  Gunther and Dave had their regularly scheduled meeting with the NPP
  ALD Haiyan Gao on Thursday, November 9.  We discussed the RHIC
  schedule leading to the start of Run-24.  Calculations are underway
  regarding the potential for ODH in buildings like the one where the
  valve box is located (see NPP update excerpts below).  Depending on
  the outcome of those studies, it's possible that a more involved
  safety approval process will be required before RHIC can cool down.
  We also discussed the future calendar with her.  I.e., the potential
  for a later start of Run-24 to push Run-25 back by some amount, and
  how that interacts with the EIC's oft-stated plan to have RHIC
  operations conclude at the end of June 2025.  She said that she, the
  Lab Director, and the EIC project director are all aware of this and
  solutions are being sought.

BNL Guest appointments

  Some collaborators may be experiencing long delays in getting their
  BNL guest appointments renewed.  This is due in part to a new system
  at DOE.  The information that was sent around by the GUV Center was
  this:

    "As you may have heard, DOE instituted a new application of their
    Foreign Access Central Tracking System (FACTS) on 11/1/2023. This
    was announced to the complex in the afternoon of 10/27/2023, and
    the original FACTS was shut down on 10/31/2023 at 6 pm.

    To date, BNL and all DOE sites are unable to use the new FACTS to
    meet the requirements of DOE Order 142.3B.  DOE has informed us
    that the system will be functional for manual uploads on
    11/6/2023. The process of developing an application programming
    interface (API) for the modern, automated transfer of data to
    FACTS is being developed by the DOE vendor with no estimated time
    for completion yet. BHSO and DOE have approved the use of our
    local system, which is an acceptable temporary solution, but it
    will be slow as all data is manually uploaded, and because we have
    already been down a few days, the backlog is even larger than
    usual.

    We ask for your patience and support as we work toward approvals
    of foreign nationals whose appointments have lapsed, or new
    foreign nationals who start dates will be delayed.  Know that we
    are doing the best we can with what we must work with. Besides
    impacting guests’ and users’ access, additional work by the GUV
    Center, Security, and ITD, will be required in the weeks and
    potentially months ahead.

    I would respectfully ask that we limit our communications with the
    GUV Center as they are diligently working on processing
    applications."

NPP Update from ALD's office:

  Update on RHIC/1004B valve box: Work on the DX magnet in building
  912 is progressing well.  The electrical wiring is nearly complete
  and set-up for electrical testing of the DX magnet is underway. The
  schedule for the remaining effort has been updated to include the
  extended (and critical) electrical testing effort and time to
  establish good quality vacuum in the laminated magnet cold mass
  assembly.  Next steps are to complete the diode installation,
  install the new end volume assemblies, perform the electrical tests,
  complete the welding of the end volumes, then pump down and perform
  helium leak check.  The magnet will be shipped to the Magnet
  Division for field measurements late November. The plan, equipment,
  and support structures needed for these measurements are in place.
  The magnet will then be installed, around mid-December, in the RHIC
  tunnel, where electrical connections are being prepared. Concerning
  the valve box repair, the replacement bellows were received by BNL
  last Friday and mechanical assembly including welding, leak and
  pressure tests will start this week.  The schedule aims to complete
  the repairs and close the valve box by the end of December, possibly
  earlier.

  Update on RHIC Blue Ring Siberian Snake magnet reinstallation:
  Pressure tests and final welds on track to complete by the end of
  the month.

  Update on the USI Process: The calculations of Oxygen Deficiency
  Hazard conditions in the service buildings are almost complete. The
  last remaining input is flow-rate measurements for the building
  exhaust fans which should conclude mid-week.  The report detailing
  the calculations will be finished and then cross-checked by the BNL
  Subject Matter Expert.  The USI is in a state where it can start to
  be “socialized” with groups that will need to review the final
  version.


--
David Morrison  Brookhaven National Laboratory  phone: 631-344-5840
                Physics Department, Bldg 510 C    fax: 631-344-3253
                          Upton, NY 11973-5000  email: dave AT bnl.gov