|
|
|
star focus: beamtime!
|
Posted: Feb 2, 2006
STAR's preparations are underway for the 2006 RHIC beamtime, thanks to
special
funding for this year's experimental operations. This year's "beamtime" is
the sixth annual RHIC run, with
about 15 weeks of colliding polarized proton beams scheduled to begin in early
March.
STAR collaborators come to BNL during the experiment to serve weekly
shifts as part of six-member shift teams, and each member has specific tasks
to perform while on shift. The Shift Leader directs the running of the experiment
during his/her shift (day, evening, night) and serves as liaison with the RHIC main
control room. Detector Operators manage the operation of the many subsystems
that comprise STAR, each with unique operating procedures and safety guidelines. An
additional Shift Crew Person aides both the Shift Leader and Detector Operator and performs
general monitoring tasks and data checks, and two trainees also participate in general
data-taking activities. All three shifts are all overseen by the Period Coordinator, and
the run's overall progress is monitored by the STAR Trigger Board and
STAR Quality Assurance Board.
All collaborators who work on experiments at RHIC first complete a
Collider
User Training class,
which teaches general RHIC operating procedures and safety protocol. STAR requires additional
training for its shift crew and more training for specific tasks. Here is a list of all
RHIC runs with collision system and energy.
| Run |
Dates |
STAR datasets recorded |
| I |
June—Sept, 2000 |
Au+Au, 130 GeV |
| II |
Aug, 2001—Jan, 2002 |
Au+Au, 200 GeV
p+p, 200 GeV |
| III |
Jan—May, 2003 |
d+Au, 200 GeV
p+p, 200 GeV |
| IV |
Dec, 2003—May, 2004 |
Au+Au, 62, 200 GeV
p+p, 200 GeV |
| V |
Jan—June, 2005 |
Cu+Cu, 62, 200 GeV
p+p, 200, 410 GeV |
| VI |
Mar—June, 2006 (planned) |
p+p, 62, 200 GeV |
|
