Jefferson Lab Weekly Briefs November 7, 2012

Jefferson Lab Weekly Briefs
November 7, 2012

Physics

In Hall C, the 185,000-pound dipole pair in the Short Orbit Spectrometer was removed and transported to the Central Material Storage Area. This magnet, installed in 1993 and used for most Hall C experiments, was used to analyze the momentum of electrons, positrons, pions, protons and kaons. The SOS spectrometer is being removed from the hall to make room for the the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer. Removal of the raised concrete floor is continuing in preparation for installation of the rails for the SHMS.

Free-Electron Laser

Work is proceeding on the new gun and upgrades to the existing beamlines. Vacuum maintenance work was underway all week for the cryomodules. The FEL team is proceeding with development of the ring resonator system.

Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics

The internal consistency of parton distribution functions in the presence of target mass corrections (TMCs) at low values of Q2 is studied in a new paper. New results are obtained for the complete set of unpolarized structure functions and their moments in closed form for both electron and neutrino scattering. To avoid unphysical regions encountered in earlier TMC analyses, an expansion of the TMC structure functions is proposed order by order in 1/Q2, and the convergence properties of the resulting forms, as well as implications for JLab experiments, are discussed.

Engineering

The alignment group has been busy supporting the 12 GeV effort. The group has completed the alignment of the South Linac cryomodules and warm region girders. This involved moving the entire line by up to seven millimeters (a lot to beam optics) to conform with changes seen in movements of the accelerator tunnel through the years. The North Linac components were also moved earlier in the down. In the east arc, the initial alignment of all the refurbished components has been completed. The altered 0L/0R region chicane behind the 2nd recombiner (northwest corner of the accelerator) continues to be aligned. Additionally, the bolt locations for the stands in line D and the south extractor region have been marked.

JLab Calendar of Events

Nov. 5-8: TESLA Technology Collaboration (TTC) Meeting
Nov. 13: Science Series: The Origin of the Elements
Nov. 14: Interfacing EPICS & LabVIEW presentation
Nov. 15-17: CTEQ Collaboration Meeting
Nov. 19: Safety Shoe vendor onsite
Nov. 20: Colloquium and Public Lecture
Nov. 22-23: Thanksgiving holiday; JLab closed

Environment, Safety, Health and Quality

Are you sitting too much?
Your answer may depend on what job you are doing and if sitting is a normal part of your job. We all have been told over the years to exercise and keep moving, but some jobs at JLab seem to keep people tied to a desk or computer. Add to this the time you may spend at home watching TV or on a computer, and your body may not be getting enough movement to stay healthy.

For these workers, it's important to get up as often as possible and move around, for instance, to pick up the printout now rather than at the end of the day, to get a drink of water (that has its own health benefits) or to consult with a colleague. Getting up and moving around improves the circulation in the legs and feet. Workers can also stretch their arms and hands to further improve blood flow and help reduce the effects of too much screen time. Don't forget that your eyes need a break too, and getting away from the screen helps you exercise your eyes by focusing on objects at different distances.

Computing and Networking Infrastructure

Support for Windows 8
Microsoft has recently released Windows 8, and the CNI Group is currently testing its compatibility with the CUE environment as well as core applications. This operating system is very different from Windows 7, and it will take a few months to fully test the new OS and environment. In the meantime, the group will not provide support for Windows 8 on computers in the CUE environment. The group will announce its support once testing and evaluation of this new, and vastly different, OS is complete. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the IT Division Helpdesk, x7155.

Announcements

Disinfectant Hand Wipes for Your JLab Workspace
To minimize the spread of flu this season, JLab has disinfectant hand wipes for distribution to staff and Users for disinfecting hands and common-use workplace surfaces, such as phones and keyboards. They are available to the lab via Freestock, in Bldg. 90, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Friday. If you have any questions, call x6297, x7225 or x7233.

JLab Veterans Day Salute Set for Monday, Nov. 12
In recognition of the many people at JLab who have served in the Armed Forces, the lab will have cake in the CEBAF Center lobby, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 12, for all veterans. Veterans are asked to sign the board and enjoy a piece of cake!

Thanksgiving Warm-Up Buffet in the Quark Cafe
The annual Quark Cafe Thanksgiving Feast is set for Wednesday, Nov. 14, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. This year's buffet will feature roast turkey with cornbread sage dressing, gravy, fresh orange-cranberry sauce, Smithfield ham, carved peppercorn beef Wellington, Yukon gold garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans almandine, maple-walnut Brussels sprouts, dinner rolls and assorted pies. The buffet is $10 (plus tax) and includes a medium fountain drink. Buffet items will be available for a la carte purchase.

Quark Cafe Takes Thanksgiving Dessert Orders
The cafe is accepting holiday dessert orders through Friday, Nov. 16, during breakfast, lunch and Wednesday snack hours. The cafe is offering a selection of whole pies, including sweet potato, southern pecan, apple and blueberry. Pumpkin cheesecake is also available. Pre-ordered desserts will be available for pickup on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 20-21. Pick up your order form and get more information in the Quark Cafe.

Industry Presentation & Free Lunch: Interfacing EPICS & LabView
Many commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware options need custom driver development to interface with EPICS. The research community has used LabVIEW to interface COTS hardware to EPICS for several years. Brian Reiche, technical account manager for National Instruments, will provide a status report on his company's development work regarding different methods of interfacing EPICS with LabVIEW. The ability to directly use EPICS IOC will be covered, as well as the different supported operating systems, advantages and limitations. The presentation is on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from noon to 1 p.m. in CEBAF Center F224/225. If you have technical questions about the presentation, contact contact Brian Reiche. R.S.V.P. by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13 to Christiana Grenoble.
 
Tracking Thomas at JLab
Little Thomas is visiting all corners of the JLab campus. If you can identify his location this week, email Kandice Carter with your guess. Guesses are accepted through Friday.

Congratulations this week go to Samika Hawkins, who was the first to correctly identify the location for Oct. 31. Honorable mentions go to Narciso Gomez, Elaine Zuchowicz, Harry Fanning, Dick Owen, Michelle Shinn and Michael Haddox-Schatz. Check out the Tracking Thomas webpage for a better view of his last location and this week's new mystery photo.