Subject: Videocon minutes, May 12, 2000
From: Kate Scholberg (schol@budoe.bu.edu)
Date: Sat May 13 2000 - 15:53:25 EDT
Video meeting minutes, May 12, 2000
===================================
It was a pretty short meeting yesterday, since many people could not attend.
News from experiments:
---------------------
* Super-K: Mark reported on Fukuda-san's work to set up an "express line" for
the data. Super-K currently has a fairly long alert time delay due to several
steps of processing before the supernova monitoring software is run on the
data. In the new scheme, the regular data stream will be bypassed so that a
prompt burst search can be done within minutes. This will be implemented for
actual running very soon.
* MACRO: Alec reported no change for supernova watch, although the waveform
digitizers were decommissioned on May 3, marking the end of MACRO's monopole
search data-taking. MACRO will run in "zombie mode" (supernova/muons only)
until the end of December of this year.
* SNO: Clarence reported progress made on SNO's supernova monitoring and
alert setup. Previously, the SN monitor software alerts were sent to
detector operators only. A new system dials out to a group of people and
sets up a phone conference; those receiving the alert can then discuss the
data. The response time should be less than 20 minutes. They are
accumulating experience with typical sorts of false alarms, and they propose
to set the threshold such that only deep-inelastic scattering events (which
occur at the rate of ~1/month) trigger it.
* OMNIS: Here's the emailed report from Alex.
"The OMNIS project is still progressing. Further to our recent R&D
funding success, the WIPP, which manages the saltmine where we wish to
locate, has agreed to tunnel out news drifts large enough to allow us a
more expansive, but more efficient, detector design. They have also
created office space, computer connections, and 6 pcs for the use of
underground scientists within the caverns. The Leptontown meeting,
sponsored by the DOE at the request of NSF to explore the future of
underground science, will be held in Carlsbad June 12-14."
Mark clarified that the "recent R&D funding success" is money from NSF.
SNEWS news:
----------
-- Alex reported by email that the recent AAVSO meeting went well:
"The talk I presented at the AAVSO meeting in Huntsville, Al, was
well receieved, and was also very enjoyable to attend. NASA made us feel
very welcome with excellent hospitality, and VIP tours of the Marshall
Space Flight Center. The transparencies, and a preliminary version of the
write-up for the JAAVSO are available at:
http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~asmurphy/aavsotalk/"
-- We will have a summer student at BU, Corrinne Mills (a Harvard undergrad),
whose main job will be to finish up as many as possible of the remaining
SNEWS coding jobs (the ones listed on the job web page.) She'll be starting
mid-June.
-- Clarence relayed a message from Art that he's been working on setting
up an advisory board conference call for next week.
-- No response yet about the DOE proposal; it is probably ending up
in the next funding cycle.
Next meeting:
------------
The next SNEWS meeting will be a face-to-face one at Neutrino 2000. Not
everyone will be able to attend, but some reasonable fraction of SNEWS
members expect to be there.
Clarence has looked into some possible times. We tentatively selected June
17, in the evening, 8-10 pm. This is during one of the public lectures,
which goes from 8-9 pm. Other possibilities: June 19, same time (another
lecture overlap; this is an excursion day too), or the last day of the
conference.
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