Subject: Way ahead
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 18:53:11 +0200 (CEST)
From: Friedrich DYDAK <Friedrich.Dydak@cern.ch>
To: ps-proj-hadroprod-authors@listbox.cern.ch

Dear Colleagues:

I should like to inform you of my plan of work in HARP for the next
months.

In its 24.03.2003 meeting, the Collaboration Board (CB) faced two
opinions: `we are on schedule, we must continue with the orderly
development of software tools, be patient until it bears fruits',
with S. Giani, J.J. Gomez Cadenas and J. Panman as proponents;
and `progress towards physics analysis is not satisfactory, we are
not focused enough on solving urgent problems, we should cut through
our problems by setting ourselves the goal of preliminary physics
results for summer 2003', with myself as proponent.

Neither of the two opinions was found convincing on its own by the
CB. Rather, the CB ruled that both activities were worthwhile and
should be pursued in a balanced way. The detailed execution
was left to the Spokesperson, newly aided by a Steering Committee
(SC) which had been foreseen in the Constitution but had not been
activated before.

I accept the CB's ruling as a fair and reasonable compromise, and
more so, I will actively support it.

Now we must turn this together into practice, with good prospects
for palpable progress, with a maximum of fairness to all concerned,
with best use of people's capabilities, and with avoiding unnecessary
frictions and dispute.

Like everybody else, we face a shortage of resources. This means
that both activities must accept reductions in scope. As for topics
of preliminary physics analyses, no new idea and no strong preference
has come up. I retain as goals for summer 2003 only e-/e+ in
DeepWater data and pi-/pi+ in ThinWater data. They are the easiest
to achieve and yet require substantial progress in the understanding
of the TPC and the RPCs.

According to the Constitution, the Steering Committee `supervises
the progress of the experiment, along the lines defined by the CB,
prepares decisions and makes recommendations to the CB. Members of
the SC are nominated by the Spokesperson in consultation with the
Collaboration and elected by the CB. The term of office is up to
three years. SC members may be re-elected'.

Thanks to the amazing foresight of the Constitution's authors, the
SC's role is clear. Specifically for the next months: the SC will
help the Spokesperson with the coordination of the two activities
in line with the CB's guideline to pursue both activities in a
balanced way: setting of priorities and milestones, monitoring
of progress, settling minor problems arising in the execution
of the two activities.

Besides the ex-officio SC members F. Dydak (Spokesperson and SC
Chairperson), S. Giani (Software Manager), J.J. Gomez Cadenas
(Analysis Convenor), L. Linssen (Resource Coordinator) and
J. Panman (Contactperson), I decided, after extensive consultation,
to propose to the Collaboration Board three HARP physicists to be
elected as ordinary members who I trust will bring with them strong
interest in physics, common sense, independent judgement, and
active involvement in HARP analysis. Their membership is proposed
ad personam, not as regional representation. I hope that the SC
will be constituted by the end of this month.

The term of office of all SC members is limited until 07.07.2003,
date of the next CB meeting.

Very little time is left until summer. Unlike the orderly development
of software tools, preliminary physics analysis cannot afford losing
precious time in further discussions.

Common sense calls for a certain `disentanglement' of the two
activities, i.e. a largely parallel pursuit of continued software
tools development and preliminary physics analysis. However, as many
bridges as possible should be built in between; people should be
free to contribute to either activity, or both, and to move from
one activity to the other.

The `continued software tools development' will concentrate on
efficient NDC reconstruction, iDST, Analysis Package, Kalman filter,
and Monte Carlo simulation in the forward region. NDC reconstruction
useful for physics analysis must be high up on the priority list.
I expect J.J. Gomez Cadenas to continue coordinating this activity.

The `preliminary physics analysis' will concentrate on physics
results from the large-angle region from DeepWater and ThinWater
data. Major issues are the correction of the TPC Xtalk and
the RPC calibration. The goal is to have preliminary physics results
for the written report to the SPSC, likely to be submitted on
04.08.2003 (less than four months left!). This activity will be
coordinated ad interim by myself.

This plan of work in HARP covers the time until 07.07.2003 when the
further course of action will be discussed and decided by the CB
on the basis of practical experience with this executive plan,
achieved results, and proposals by the Spokesperson for the time after.

There is more than enough work for everybody, including a noble and
important role for the SC. Let's together get on with the work!

Sincerely, Friedrich