The DRAFT schedule for the remainder of 6 GeV running (between now and
the final shutdown for the transition to 12 GeV) has been posted on the
JLab website at:
http://www.jlab.org/div_dept/physics_division/experiments/schedule.html .
A summary version of the schedule has also been posted at:
http://www.jlab.org/div_dept/physics_division/experiments/schedule.html
We encourage all users to review the schedule and to discuss it with
colleagues and JLab staff involved in its development. There will be
two open, public discussions of the schedule: the first following a
seminar presenting the schedule that will be held at 1 PM on Thursday,
September 18, and the second at the January PAC meeting. There will
also be discussions at various hall weekly and collaboration meetings.
Your comments and thoughts about the schedule between now and early
January and at the PAC meeting are welcome. Any written comments we
receive will be shared with the Scheduling Committee and included in the
information the PAC receives about the schedule for their deliberations
in January.
The incoming JLab director, Hugh Montgomery, requested that we post the
schedule now for your review and consideration. Prior to “finalizing”
the draft schedule early in 2009, he will seek advice of the PAC and
others. Specifically, Mont has indicated that his charge to the January
2009 PAC will request its comments on the 6 GeV running plan (in
addition to recommendations on the 12 GeV proposals that will be the
main focus of the PAC). A day will be set aside at the PAC meeting for
this review, and will include both public and executive sessions. Mont
will participate in both the public and executive session PAC
discussions of the schedule. Following the PAC meeting, the laboratory
will issue a revised DRAFT schedule that incorporates its response to
that discussion and any further internal review we deem appropriate.
Once the “final draft” schedule has been issued, it will be subject to
periodic revision depending on the details of laboratory funding and
technical issues that may arise in the interim. We will post updates
each year once a final budget for the year has been issued, and may post
additional updates as our understanding of likely budget scenarios
evolves. We will make every effort to have the issued schedules “firm”
for at least the following six months, as has been tradition, but may be
forced by budget developments to make adjustments. We will include to
the extent possible guidance about potential budget consequences on the
remaining program. The “style” of that guidance will be similar to what
was done in the latest schedule release indicating the vulnerability of
the April/May 2009 running.
Realizing this schedule fully will require that many things “fall
right”. The core requirement will be overall laboratory operations
funding at a level consistent with the 30 weeks/year average needed and
with the hall operations and equipment construction necessary to
complete it. This corresponds roughly to the lab receiving the
President’s Budget request level of funding in FY09 and cost of living
increases in subsequent years. It will also require that technical
developments continue as foreseen for the accelerator itself – notably
the restoration of 6 GeV maximum beam energy capability and the
improvement in the polarized beam stability to the level needed by both
the Hall A and Q_Weak experiments. Finally, a few of the planned
experiments require major equipment developments where funding is not
yet currently fully identified. These include the apparatus needed for:
the g_2 ^p measurement (E08-027) and for the DVCS experiments on the
proton (E07-007) and neutron (E08-025) that are planned for Hall A; the
two photon exchange experiment (E07-005) in Hall B; and the N* searches
on polarized neutrons using the planned HDIce target (E06-101). In
addition, both equipment modification and significant technical
developments must take place before the DVCS and SIDIS measurements on
the neutron (E08-015 and -021) can be mounted in Hall B. We will work
with the proponents of these experiments to identify the needed funding.
An extended version of this memo, which provides an outline of how the
schedule was developed and the biggest picture issues, is posted at:
http://www.jlab.org/div_dept/physics_division/experiments/schedule.html
Larry Cardman
for the Nuclear Physics Experiment Scheduling Committee