Physics

The installation for the five experiments scheduled to run in Hall A this spring was completed last week on schedule. On Friday evening, beam delivery started and great progress has been made on commissioning the various detector systems (HRS-L, HRS-R, BigBite and BigHAND, the Hall A neutron detector). On Monday, the hall was open to install the lead shielding in front of BigHAND.

In addition to production running on the liquid hydrogen target, the Q-weak experiment in Hall C made measurements of the asymmetries from a transversely polarized beam on both the LH2 and aluminum targets. Also, a series of rate measurements at different toroid magnetic fields was made to measure inelastic backgrounds. Both the transverse asymmetry and inelastic measurements serve to constrain backgrounds in the measurement of Q-weak. The Accelerator Operations group restored beam to the Compton Polarimeter chicane, achieving low backgrounds in the Compton detectors.

Accelerator

The accelerator has been running well, delivering beam to all three halls, although there was some downtime. On Tuesday, the beam polarization was changed from horizontal to vertical for Hall C and was changed back to horizontal two days later. Also in the last week, the Arc9 box supply tripped off due to a water leak, which was fixed; a spin dance was performed to optimize the beam polarization; and a few hours were spent to optimize beam quality. Radiofrequency zone 2L05 interrupted beam delivery for a few hours (a control module was replaced and cracked waveguide pressure line was repaired). On Monday, the laser spot was moved to support the high current run to Hall C.

Free-Electron Laser

The FEL group spent the week continuing installation of systems to support ultraviolet and vacuum UV optical transport to the labs, including installation of optical transport lines, controls, vacuum controls and changes required by the Laser Personnel Safety System.

Theoretical and Computational Physics

The so-called Witten diagrams are one of the main tools for nonperturbative QCD calculations in the Anti-de Sitter/QCD model. Using the Mellin representation of AdS propagators, one can reduce the Witten diagrams to the more familiar Feynman diagrams used in perturbative calculations. The Mellin representation for the AdS propagator of the graviton is derived in a new paper <arXiv:1102.0577 [hep-th]>, which is relevant for the description of high-energy processes in nonperturbative QCD.

Engineering and 12 GeV Upgrade

First article testing at the vendor for the new 12 GeV radiofrequency system cathode power supplies was witnessed last week by RF group engineers. Testing went as expected with minor issues to be resolved, but overall performance validated. Delivery of the first unit is expected by the end of February or in early March. The South Linac, which had been cleaned out, is now prepared for RF equipment installation activities. Equipment racks and AC power installation was completed earlier and will support the new hardware.

Environment, Safety, Health and Quality

As Hampton Roads moves into spring, many of us will be applying lawn and garden chemical products to either promote growth or eliminate growth in our lawns and gardens. However, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides can have a significant adverse effect on the health of the fish and wildlife that live in and on our waterways. You can prevent pollution in local streams, rivers and bays, and also achieve cost savings, by simply following the label directions for mixing ratios and following the proper application method.
 
Do not fall into the trap of "If one ounce per gallon is good, then 2 ounces must be great and 3 ounces must be fantastic" concept. Modern chemicals are made such that the recommended application rate is the best concentration for maximum effect without causing damage to the plants or the environment. Properly used, these products will give the results you want and not pollute our local waterways. Additionally, it will be safer for you, your family and household pets not to have excessive amounts of these products on your lawn or around your house.

Computing and Networking Infrastructure

CNI Maintenance Day Set for Tuesday, Feb. 22
The CNI group is planning a maintenance period for 5-7 p.m. on Feb. 22. During this time, Linux patches will be pushed out to Common User Environment level 1 and level 2 desktop systems. Plan on rebooting your desktop system on Wednesday to finalize patch installation. If you have questions, contact the IT Division Helpdesk, x7155.

jlabs2 To Be Decommissioned
As part of the maintenance period next Tuesday at 5 p.m., the CNI group will decommission the central Solaris 8 system, jlabs2. The other central Solaris 8 system, jlabs1, will still be available for user logins. However, in the near future logins will be limited to just those people that cannot use jlabs3, jlabl1, jlabl2 or jlabl3. If you have questions, contact the IT Division Helpdesk, x7155.

Announcements

2011 Benefits Open Enrollment Underway
JLab's 2011 Health Benefits Open Enrollment is offered Feb. 16 - March 4, via the Employee Self Service System. All regular and term employees are eligible for medical, dental, health and dependent care flexible spending accounts, short-term disability and supplemental life insurance. For complete information on benefits options, visit the Human Resources Benefits webpage. This is also your opportunity to enroll your eligible adult dependent children, up to age 26, on your medical and dental coverage. Eligibility rules are available via ESS and the benefits webpage.

JLab Calendar of Events

Feb. 21: Presidents Day holiday: JLab closed
Feb. 23-25: Excited Hadronic States and the Deconfinement Transition Workshop
Feb. 28: Safety Shoe vendor onsite
March 5: Va. Regional Middle School Science Bowl
March 7: Safety Shoe vendor onsite