[Shms_users] SHMS-HMS Users Group Newsletter #7

Fri Aug 13 13:13:01 EDT 2010

                     SHMS-HMS Users Group Newsletter #7
                     -------------------------------
                              August 2010

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
--------------------
The SHMS+HMS User's Group is managed and represented by a board
consisting of six members.  Each fall, two individuals are elected to
hold office for a period of three years.  The current Board Members
whose terms are expiring are Peter Monaghan and Charles Perdrisat.
This is a call for nominations for the upcoming election.  There will
be further discussion on nominations at the Hall C Workshop on August
27.  The actual election will be held shortly afterward by email.  If
you are interested in nominating someone to the Board, or if you are
interested in running yourself, please contact Garth Huber at
huberg at uregina.ca.

SHMS Software Working Group
---------------------------
Gabriel Niculescu is heading up the development of a C++/Root based
analyzer.  Currently the documentation of the existing Hall C fortran
code and investigation of the framework of the Hall A C++/Root based
analyzer has been completed. The Hall A analyzer can understand the
CODA event structure of Hall C runs without modification, although it
does not do any decoding of the various event types.

A web page or wiki with notes and related information that Gabriel has
compiled will soon be available online. Gabriel is currently working
on detector maps for the HMS so that CODA events can be identified and
successfully decoded.

The current plan is to duplicate exactly the detector decoding,
tracking, and event selection from the engine so that detailed,
event-by-event comparisons with the existing code can be
made. Improvements in the detectors, in particular for calibration,
may be included but initially event decoding that matches the engine
exactly is a priority.  The initial comparison will be made with data from
the 2007 running, as it is some of the most recent data, and the
detector stack is in a relatively standard configuration.

The software working group is seeking to identify people who are
willing to work on providing detector maps and basic event decoding
software for all of the detectors, and then incorporating the detailed
event reconstruction based on the current engine algorithms.  Any
individual or group wishing to work on the detector codes or other
aspects of the code (scalar and epics event decoding, basic physics
routines, etc...) is encouraged to contact John Arrington.

SHMS Detectors Working Group
----------------------------
Work has begun on assembling the scintillator paddles for the
Time-of-Flight detector at James Madison University. The first set of
paddles assembled have been tested for light leaks and the signals
measured with use of a radioactive source. The assembly jig is
currently being upgraded to improve the reproducibility of centering
photomultiplier tubes onto the lightguides.

The University of Regina group conducted some optics studies to place
HGC PMTs left-right rather than top-bottom.  This left-right
configuration does not have as good performance as the original
top-bottom configuration.  It appears that the somewhat random
dispersal of particle tracks in the non-bend plane makes focusing of
the light from the mirror to the PMTs more difficult, compared to the
more orderly dispersal of particle tracks across the focal plane in
the bend-plane.  The simulations of the top-bottom configuration have
been further optimized, and it looks very promising that parabolic
mirrors will not be needed.

Please send any photos or updates of the detector construction project
to Howard Fenker and Steve Wood for use in several upcoming 12 GeV
project meetings.

SHMS Project Update
-------------------
   - controls for cryogenics in progress.
   - SHMS Power Supply bids are being evaluated.
   - Bids have been received for Dipole & Quads and are being evaluated.
   - Horizontal Bender contract has been awarded to Michigan State.
   - Mechanical Engineering study for the support structure has identified 
some further weight savings.

Upcoming Events
---------------
Hall C is pleased to announce its annual summer workshop to be held on
Friday, August 27, 2010.  The workshop is the same week as the PAC
(August 23-25) and the SHMS detector Meeting (August 26).  This year's
workshop will focus on three of the research areas that Hall C will
see in the 12 GeV era, exclusive reactions, semi-inclusive deep
inelastic scattering (SIDIS), and hadrons in the nuclear medium.  The
workshop will include talks from a mix of Hall C collaborators and
physicists outside of the Hall C community.  Although the agenda is
under development, the organizing committee is still a accepting
suggestions for talks.  If you would like to give a talk or suggest a
speaker, please contact Steve Wood, Garth Huber or Tanja Horn.

Useful Weblinks
---------------

Hall C Ph.D. Theses:   http://www1.jlab.org/ul/generic_reports/thesis.cfm
Hall C Home Page:      http://www.jlab.org/Hall-C/
Hall C Wiki:           https://hallcweb.jlab.org/wiki/
SHMS-HMS Users Group: 
http://www.jlab.org/Hall-C/upgrade/shms_users_group.html
Hall C 12 GeV Upgrade: http://www.jlab.org/Hall-C/upgrade/
Hadronic Physics Meetings: http://cnr2.kent.edu/~manley/BRAGmeetings.html

Request for Input
-----------------
If you have any comments or suggestions on issues of relevance for the 
SHMS, or if you have news that you would like to contribute to future 
issues of this news letter, please contact any SHMS-HMS User's Board 
Member:

John Arrington         johna at anl.gov
Tanja Horn             hornt at jlab.org
Garth Huber            huberg at uregina.ca
Peter Monaghan         peter at jlab.org
Ioana Niculescu        ioana at jlab.org
Charles Perdrisat      perdrisa at jlab.org

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-----------------------
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