Commissioning and running of sPHENIX

[Stefan Bathe <stefan.bathe AT baruch.cuny.edu>]

Dear All,

We all saw the news that due to the damage of the blue ring, beam operations inevitably have come to an end for this run.  However, the run itself is far from over:  the commissioning of our detector continues with full force!

With the absence of beam, one thing that changes for us is that we won’t need full shift crews anymore.  Therefore:

*** We will switch to two-person shifts, that is Shift Leader and Detector Operator, starting tonight at midnight.***

(The Shift Leader and Detector Operator will have to do double duty at some level and also run the DAQ and monitor the data.  But with the complication of and pressure from beam operations removed, we feel that is manageable, and we don’t want to waste people’s time by having full shift crews with no beam.)

The continuation of shifts at the two-person level is absolutely essential for the continued commissioning of our detector:  we need to keep the power on, the gas flowing, the detector safe, exercise the DAQ, system test the entire detector, and support the experts doing commissioning work.  The ultimate goal is to prove to ourselves that we can take physics-quality data with the entire detector working together at the design DAQ rate before the next run starts!

We anticipate that the commissioning will continue until at least he beginning of October, which means for now we will keep the current shift schedule, which runs until October 3rd.  If you are already signed up for one of the other two shift positions, DAQ Operator or Data Monitor, you will keep your shift credit even though your shift is canceled.  But we encourage you to sign up for one of the open SL or DO spots.  

Best regards,

Stefan

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Stefan Bathe

Professor of Physics
Baruch College, CUNY
and RIKEN Visiting Scientist

Baruch:                                     BNL:
17 Lexington Ave                      Bldg. 510
office 940                                  office 2-229
phone 646-660-6272                phone 631-344-8490
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