[Prex] PREX/CREX ERR result

[Paschke, Kent Dieter (kdp2c)]

Yesterday, we underwent an Experimental Readiness Review at JLab. These reviews aim to vet experiments on their state of readiness to be installed and commissioned in the time frame covered by the next published schedule. In our case, issues of controlling systematic uncertainties or achieving statistical power were more-or-less assumed. The questions mostly focused on the design of the experiment: can it be built, can it be installed, and can it run (safely) without breaking.

The answer from the committee was a clear “yes” on these counts. The review wasn’t all smooth-sailing - we clearly still have work to do - but they were convinced that we had a clear understanding of our apparatus and the tools to resolve the wrinkles we still have to work through.  The guidance from the lab echoed this conclusion. PREX and CREX will be allowed to submit a request for scheduling in the next period, leaving us on track for a possible Fall 2018 run. Nothing is assured: we were also given specific guidance that any scheduling decision will be contingent on the lab finding the funds to build the experimental equipment. And of course the experiments currently scheduled to run must complete, so we also require efficient accelerator operations and a federal budget that supports enough of it. 

None-the-less, yesterday’s decision was a necessary step forward. So congratulations to all of you who have spent so long pushing this experiment forward.  

If you are interested, presentations from today can be found at  https://prex.jlab.org/wiki/index.php/PREX-CREX-2017ERR  The committee had very little time to develop a complete response, but they are collecting their notes and we should expect to get a full set of recommendations very soon.

Cheers,
Kent
(for Seamus, Paul, Bob, KK, Juliette, Dustin, Guido, and Silviu )