BNL
 DOE
 

star focus: beamtime!

Posted: Feb 2, 2006


STAR's on-site control room

RHIC FY '06 operations plan

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

 


webmaster Last modified: Aug 15 2006 10:36.
privacy & security