Weekly Report for Week Ending February 15, 2001

The LIGO Executive Committee Agenda for Monday  January 15, 2001 will be:

 CANCELLED DUE TO HOLIDAY
 

Special Announcements:

Weekly Report Highlights
 

LSC Issues (Weiss)

no report

LIGO I Construction/LIGO Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)

WBS 1.2 LIGO Operations--Administration

LIGO Weekly Site Telecon (Lindquist)

The next site telecon is scheduled for Thursday, February 22, 2001.  The list of current actions revised to reflect open actions assigned through February 8, 2001 may be found at ACTION LIST.

From: Ed Chargois <chargois_e@ligo.caltech.edu>

• Assisted the Project Office (E. Wood) with the shipment of a LCD Projector  SN# BQQ0990044k to the Hanford Observatory ( J. Berry) in support of the NSF Review.  Account Number P182414.
• Assisted the System Administrator (L.Bogue) with packing and shipping of a Dell Computer, SN # 9113346BY11777A, for repair to Dell Computer Group (Andrew). Return DPS # 16763449 via Federal Express . Account Number P182498.
• Assisted the Detector Group (R. Karwoski) with the return of a Function Generator to Stanford Research, System RMA # BK2901.  Account Number P182449.

>From: Linda Turner - turner@ligo.caltech.edu>

Web pages for the DCC give simple how-to's for document numbering, easy access to the latest on-line documents, and search capabilities for the DCC database. Take a look. . .

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Designed a form to be used by various LSC members to track the presentations and presenters for the plenary session as well as for each  working session.  This will hopefully eliminate some of the confusion arising from changes to the published agenda and will help aid in timely web posting.
• Rewrote procedures for LSC members in preparing and submitting their presentations.  Encouraged advance numbering and submittal prior to the actual meetings.  Also covered the formats desired and potential obstacles to timely posting of their presentations following the daily meetings.
• Delivered to Barry and Gary the LIGO award/service plaque.
• Continued the process of outlining a system requirements document for the DCC.
• Created folders for all the electronic documents currently available in multiple formats and transferred the appropriate documents into each.  These folders address the need to group different pieces of a document or multiple formats of the same document under one number for accessibility.
• Processed and distributed 1 DCN.

• Processed fairly large amount of electronic documents this reporting period.
• Progress continues on auditing of Hanford Construction drawings.  Completion is very near.

Press here to access the DOCUMENT CONTROL CENTER WEB PAGE.

From: Esther Cunningham <esther@ligo.caltech.edu>

Press here for ACCOUNTS PAYABLE HISTORY DATA.

From: "Brambila, Ruth" <Ruth.Brambila@caltech.edu>

• I am finishing up NYMA, and the transfers on Sun River and Associated Western.
• Received invoices today from Praxair which reflect the credit adjustments and the correct surcharge billing rate of $.22 rather than $.46 per gallon. The discrepancy was caught by John Worden at LHO.  The vendor has adjusted our invoices and are now reflecting the correct lower surcharge rate.
• A decision was made on the generator and we will proceed with a purchase req to Stewart and Stevenson.
• Working on the RFP for Boc Gases.
• Will look in the VWR statement at LLO to inquire about a few purchases which are unidentifiable.

• Assisted in providing information for NSF review.
• Completed and sent out Integrated report for Data Group.

From: irena@ligo.caltech.edu (Irena Petrac)

• No report this week.  Vacation.

From: Ed Jasnow <jasnow@ligo.caltech.edu>

• A generator set has been purchased for the Livingston site for $35,800, which is almost $20,000 less than the initial quote received from another vendor.  This generator is to be used to keep the fire protection system operational in the event of a total power failure.

Support (Wood)

Dorothy Lloyd

• Out with a sick child.

• Due to travel, lengthy meetings upon my return, and generally attempting to catch up with e-mail and voice-mail, I have no significant amount of stats to report this week.

• Obtained incoming LSC reports, formatted 4th Quarter progress report from Syracuse.  Did Addendum No. 1 to RFP IPGS-511, SEI Isolation System Mechanical Structure Prototype; helped Fax it to bidders.  Distributed Amendment 2 to same.  Did change orders 10 with Univ. of FL, 26 & 27 with NYMA, 3 with Mid-Columbia Engrg., and obtained Oracle requisitions numbers for all.
• FedExed documents to Japan for Mirror Isolation System, also FedExed LDAS letter to NSF and did internal distribution.  Prepared contract with NTD Architects for Operations Support East Building at LHO, obtained copies for NSF, we await their approval.
• Was out sick a couple days and on my return found 10 Pcard purchases to reconcile; several required that I chase after missing documentation.  Placed more Pcard orders.  It appears I will reconcile 27 this period.

• Dealt with personnel issues mostly this week.  That means dealing with HR.  And you know what that means.
• Immigration services has moved in with the rest of Human Resources.  Despite all fanfare to the contrary, response time to immigration questions has dropped precipitously.  Please try to anticipate your visa questions or problems as far in advance as possible because answers will be painfully slow in coming.

Advanced LIGO (Frey, Petrac)

Progress Period from 02.09 to 02.15

Accomplishments:

• LIGO Project Controls meeting held on Monday the 12th.  Focus of the meeting was the NSF review at Hanford.
• Prepared sample reports and different WBS levels as requested by Gary.
• Worked with Phil preparing cost data for NSF review at Hanford.
• Meeting with group for dry run of cost presentation.
• Prepared budget data report as requested by Phil Lindquist.
• Proposal plan development for Advanced LIGO MRE.
• Updating hold until after NSF review and when proposal strategy is announced.
• Continuing to integrate the AOS and COS schedules into the Primavera DB.
• Initiated the development of the TNI work plan and schedule per Gary Sanders.
• Met with Eric Black.  Schedule development to begin next week.
• Project Plan for the 40-Meter Lab Upgrade continues.
• Updating to continue on a bi-monthly cycle.
• Planning process for the LASTI project at MIT is in progress.
• Updating to continue on a bi-monthly cycle.
• Continue to test the Cost Book Tool.
• Continue mapping and formatting of OPS cost data for input.
• Preparing data representing the most recent changes.
• Development of the Advanced LIGO Project Controls Guidebook continues.
• Project Web Site for posting schedule and progress related data continues to be updated with the latest and greatest.
• See http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~tfrey/index.html

• Out of office on Thursday the 22nd.
• Next weekly meeting to be scheduled after NSF review at Hanford.
• Will prepare budget presentation data as needed for NSF review at the end of February.
• Will attend the dry run meeting scheduled for Tuesday February 20th at the SSCR.
• Advanced LIGO Proposal
• Updating hold until after NSF review and when proposal strategy is announced.
• Will continue the integration of the AOS and COS schedules and generate plots for NSF review.
• Will Continue to develop the TNI Schedule.
• Will get together with Eric Black to start schedule development.
• Will Continue to update the LASTI Schedule with progress.
• Will issue update request for progress as of 3.1.01.
• Will continue updating the 40 meter schedule and incorporate any changes.
• Will issue update request for progress as of 3.1.01.
• Continue to test the Cost Book Tool.
• Cost Book Tool development continues.
• Will Continue data changes for BK.
• Will continue ops cost data input as soon as BK is ready.
• Will continue the development of the Advanced LIGO Project Web Site.
• Will continue the development of the Advanced LIGO Project Controls Guide Book.

WBS 1.4.1.2   Project Controls (LIGO Construction)

Working on material for the NSF Review scheduled at the end of the month in Hanford. Copies of my materials will be distributed this week for reference as required in other talks.

The following Change Requests have been submitted:
 

Press for the latest Contingency Needs Projection.

From: Kris Duncan <kris@ligo.caltech.edu>

• Initiated work on the January 2001 CSSR.  December 2000 status (not including the remainder of the staging building which is not currently in the PMB) is 97.8% complete for construction.
• Updated calendars, rebuilt indexes and began to print out calculation forms for task mangers to update with earned value for the month of January 2001.
• Began a reconciliation of the CIT January 2001 actual costs and commitments with the LIGO construction costs.
• Continued with construction contract/budget package close out.

• I completed the details for the monthly reports on the Construction and Advanced R&D accounts for January 2001 and emailed them to the Task managers.
• I continue to reviewed the open encumbrances on the Construction and Advanced R&D accounts to see if the requested removals have been made. I will continue to review these accounts weekly until all encumbrances have been removed (Remember, I can only get these errors corrected if the Task Managers point them out to me).
• The financial reports on the web provide supporting detail.

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/~fireport

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/~finance

http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/

From: Ed Jasnow <jasnow@ligo.caltech.edu>

• The litigation with Acme Materials and Construction has concluded with Acme withdrawing its appeal of the decision by the lower court for Caltech. This means that the amount awarded by that court is final, and all further claims are barred.  It is interesting to note the final amount awarded by the District Court is $54,000 less than the initial offer made by Caltech to settle the case.  This also means that the $200,000 being held for this case can be removed from the lien list and returned to contingency.

• No report this week; see Operations Section above.

Quality/Safety (Tyler)

• No report this week.

LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO) Operations (Raab)

General Items:
--------------
(F. Raab)
 

The installation on the 4K interferometer continues in the corner station. Basically
we have one ITM and the BS complete.
 

We have made some security changes at LHO. A few weeks ago, one of our staff was
burglarized and an LHO master key was taken. We have now replaced the locks and
issued new keys. Jill is recalling all old keys and issuing new keys. We also are
changing some common passwords (e.g., to LHO CDS machines). Call Dave Barker if a
password is needed.
 

LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO) Operations (Coles)

This week we successfully locked the X arm for several hours during the evening last Monday, Feb. 12. Improvements made to the PSL servos were evident in the locking, which was far more robust than that observed during earlier attempts. On Wednesday, Feb. 14., we also locked the Y arm of the interferometer for the first time. This went very smoothly and fell right into place. Locking appeared to be even more stable than the X arm locking observed Monday night. We attempted, for the first time at LLO, to recombine the light from both arms into a Michelson, but encountered problems with the X-arm locking using the anti-symmetric port (see the e-log for details.) Thanks to all the many LLO staff and visitors who have put in some very long days this week.

OPTICS: The small spikes in the frequency control loop of the laser were eliminated by a increase in the pump diode operating
current. Peter King remembered a similar problem at LHO and pointed us in the right direction. We rotated the mode cleaner about
its long axis over last weekend. Rotation of the mode cleaner eliminates the beam clipping we observed at the darkport, but it
appeared to couple the mode cleaner with the stack and it was unreliable in lock. We returned it to the old orientation. We've been
operating the arm locks with what appears to be clipping somewhere in HAM4, presumably at the Faraday Isolator. We reconfigured
(temporarily) ISCT1 to enable a Watec camera and the LSC photodiode at the brightport, and have aligned the QPDs at both ends, as
well as the video cameras at the end transmission monitors. (Kovalik/Giaime/Traylor/Kern)

Operations: Shipped out the last of the equipment necessary for the BSC build-up in LASTI at MIT this coming spring. Initiated an operator training guide allowing all operators and others to cross train off each others specialities. This has been working quite well. We are expanding our e-log capability with a maintenance log area. Returned from the WAO2001 with some interesting notes. They will be in the DCC tomorrow (T010013-00-L).

GC: evaluating Quick Restore software on the Exabyte 220 tape library for use in GC backups. Installed the AIT2 tape library on decatur. (Daniel Sigg installed and configured it while at LLO) The 802.11b network seems to be working very well. I also have drivers for linux for the Lucent (and some other) pcmcia cards. Windows seems to work ok with it also, with the exception of one laptop which I have not been able to troubleshoot yet.
CDS: I am making one of the CDS computers into an applications server (temporary until we have a dedicated apps server) for some of the gnu software packages that have been requested. This will include ghostscript, gcc, gnu ld, make, autoconf, etc. If there are any requests for any other packages, please let me know. (Shannon Roddy, Tom Evans)

Outreach: We have lots of educational outreach activities planned over the next few months in which we are reaching schools and children from all across the
southern portion of Louisiana. Today we were visited by a group of home schoolers from Ascension Parish. Next week we have a group of middle school students from the New Orleans area (Pine View Middle) coming out to tour and do our hands on spectrometry project. In March, we have 2 visits planned from schools in the Lafayette area. We are invited to participate in the St. Bernhard Schools science symposium in which Rai Weiss will be the guest speaker during opening activities and two representatives from our site will conduct polarization of light and spectrometer hands on activities with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Also in March is the State Science Fair and Junior Science Symposium at LSU in which we will supply judges for physics related projects. Lastly, in May, we will do a presentation on LIGO at the BREC Observatory during one of their fireside evenings chats and host a teacher's workshop (Project Plato). (Bonnie Wascom)

Detector/Technical Support (Whitcomb, Coyne)

See also the daily electronic logs for the installation and commissioningactivities:
HanfordDetector Log
LivingstonDetector Log

1.1 LHO INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING

2km Commissioning

Spent a considerable amount of time re-aligning the interferomter to move the beam up ~5 cm in the recycling cavity so that it is centered on the core optcs. The translation was accomplished with MMT1 and MMT3 (see elog entry 1 and elog entry 2 for method; user: reader, password: readonly). Alignment was hampered by noisy 4 km interferometer core installation work and frame builder failures. The beam is now approximately centered on the ITMs vertically (+/- 0.5 cm) and the optical gain boost is > 450 and locks are > 10 minutes without a WFS. The beams are still not centered horizontally on the ITMs as yet.

With the full 2k interferometer realigned and locking well we proceeded with studies of the noise spectrum (ASQ and LSC-Darm). The biggest single improvement found has been with invoking the new MC elliptic filter. A factor of as much as 10 lower (than ASQ spectrum of 02/2 e-log) noise is achieved in the vicinity of 80Hz.

MC Servo

Digital Suspensions

LSC

Core Optics 4km interferometer Installation

The BS was placed into the WBSC1 chamber and is in the process of being aligned. So far we are almost exactly on schedule.

IO 4km interferometer Installation

• without OSEMs:
• yaw = 0.8657 Hz
• position = 1.0063 Hz
• with OSEMs:
• yaw = 0.8491 Hz
• position = 1.0054 Hz

An unexpected problem occured when trying to install the safety tube and the view-port cover onto the main beam view-port of Ham-1. (This is the assembly that connects Ham-1 with PSL enclosure.) The cup which is holding the tube was cut with wrong angle. Unlike 2k Ifo, the viewport on 4k ifo is a small (less than half
of the size of the flange) and is shifted off the center of the flange. It was installed to the Ham chamber offset in vertical direction. The safety cover (built at UF) was made for this orientation.

An inspection of the initial beam pointing inside the Ham chamber showed that the flange needs to be rotated so that the viewport is offset in the horizontal direction. Then the safety cover no longer fits. The solution is to re-machine the cylindrical cup (which holds the tube) to the new angle. This was done on site.

Rick and Malik worked on calculations of the average losses in the 4km pre-modecleaner based on the measurements of its finesse.

1.2 LLO INSTALLATION & COMMISSIONING

Commissioning

The power fluctuations in the Y arm are smaller by about a factor of between 2 to 3 than in the X arm. The reason for the power fluctuations is still a major research topic and could be caused by incomplete diagonalization of the driven masses, instability of the masses due laser light scattering into the OSEM dampers and/or directly the ground noise excitation. The noise measured in the cavity length control signals is, otherwise, dominated by frequency fluctuations of the light. Direct
improvements could result from simple optimization of the frequency control servos.

The research in the coming week will be dedicated to understanding and improving the performance of the cavities and to prepare the system for recombination of the beams from the two cavities.

LSC

• Most of this week has been spent trying to get the LLO LSC system to run reliably. Right now it looks as though we have a faulty PMC fanout module in the LVEA front end crate. A new module is arriving today.
• Optical lever damping has been added to the ETMs and will be added to MMT3, BS and RM by the end of the week.
• Universal dewhitening boards have been replaced with rev A1 boards. The rev A1 boards have an output buffer stage.

PSL

I suggested to Rai that he might try turning down the pump diode current for the NPRO.  For some reason it would appear that the trim pot direction for each NPRO is different.  The diode current was increased, resulting in an increase in the laser power and the removal of the glitches.

2.0 OtherEngineering and Scientific Activities

2.1 Design/Analysis/Fab

Optics Modelling

• Compiled, executed and successfully ran the FFT-code with some modifications that can help us better understand the numerical results and compare to analytical predictions. The features added inside the core requires a new input, so the user's standard file must be slightly changed.
• The calculated losses due to clipped away light from the mirror's cross-section are consistent with what we could expect  but a more sophisticated program than the one I wrote could be needed  for complicated mirror' shapes like the ones we are studying.
• Studies on cavities supporting non-gaussian beams as eigenstates are going on, focusing on the problem of how feeding the interferometer  when reshaped mirrors are used; a certain amount of light is reflected back  but the overlap with the eigenstates of the system can be optimized.
• After studying a single cavity we are now ready to go on  for designing the whole interferometer with a view to make it resonate on the flattened mode.

LSC

PSL

Ben and Peter tested out a little high power photodiode circuit.  We measured the 3-dB bandwidth of the transimpedance circuit to be 86 MHz.  The circuit was being tested with an output of 100 mA, when the filter capacitors on the negative Vcc decided to give up.  The reasons for which are not understood.

Rick Karwoski, Paul Russell,Ben Abbott, Sander Liu

• Custom Card Situation:
• Testing the set of frequency stabilization boards for LASTI/40m. is in process.
• Ran circuit simulation on the Frequency Stablization Servo Board  (D980536) to plot out the expected performance on each stage of the circuit used. In the process of testing the board's  actual performance vs the simulated results.

• 40m/LASTI Cross-connect and General PSL assembly: We will be producing three cross-connect assemblies at the Bridge Lab. Work is currently in process.
• Intensity Stabilization: Circuit design for the first-cut intensity stabilization proto-board has begun

New OSEM Heads

We have a quote for stripping ZrN coated heads from Astro Pak. After I receive all bad parts from RPC, I will forward them to Astro Pak.

So. California Braiding quoted for pigtail assembly work. Another company did not respond. So. California Braiding's bid was a bit high (compared to expectations) and long -- about 8 weeks. We will likely build the 2 km parts in house to be timely and send the balance of the production to So. California Braiding; Our in-house electronics fab is overloaded currently.

DMT

Data Acquisition

40 Meter Interferometer (Weinstein)

February 16, 2001

• Mike Smith: The opto-mechanical layout has been updated to show all of the actual optical elements and beam widths in the interferometer (this is a preliminary design concept). It appears that with the present choice of COC wedge angles all of the ghost beams and pick-off beams are accessable: ITM = 1 deg, BS = 1 deg, ETM = 2.5 deg, PRM = 2.5 deg, SRM = 2.5 deg. The radii of curvature of the COC, that were independently calculated, are being checked by Alan. Mike and Alan are converging. From AJW: Mike's drawing has ever deeper detail; it is a tremendous resource.
• The broken STACIS unit has been sent back to TMC; the replacement was installed last week, and seems to be working well, with no faults (even after last weekend's 5.1 in Big Bear, which tripped off all the other end-test-mass STACIS units).
• Dennis Ugolini is repeating transfer function measurements for the STACIS isolators, and is training an undergrad (Eric Lin) to take over the job. Thanks to Brian Lantz for pointing out the RIGHT way to take these measurements! Thanks also (in advance) to Joe Giaime for the loan of STS-2 seismometers, and Szabi Marka for the loan of Guralp broad-band geophones.
• Work is beginning on assembling a PEM system by the summer. Dennis U is ordering geophones and accelerometers, and a SURF student is looking into weather stations, etc.
• A lot of cleaned and tested vacuum envelope equipment (for the output optic chamber seismic stack, and the 12m mode cleaner) arrived from Allied and LLO. It has been unpacked and inventoried. Several big items still await delivery; Steve Vass and Larry Jones are keeping track. We may be able to begin installation of these elements on schedule on March 1, or shortly thereafter.
• Larry Jones designed a 29.5" diameter, 18" long adjustable bellows to connect the two side chambers, but is having trouble getting bids - it's too big. It will take 2 or more months to build, and it will be expensive; Dennis Coyne reviewed the design and the possible cost, and he and Gary ok'ed it.
• Larry is getting new and old drawings of 40m equipment converted to ACAD and submitted to DCC.
• From Ben Abbott: Furniture for the 40m control room (desks, chairs, etc) are now on order; delivery in 9 weeks.
• Ben Abbott met with Michael Achondo of Caltech CES and got an estimate on rewiring of the rack disconnect switches, bolting down and wiring of the electronics racks (well, 7 of the 10). He can have the work done next week. We should have power to electronics racks shortly thereafter (electricians need to install the isolation transformers), and will be ready for installation of PSL electronics and new DAQ electronics.
• Dennis Ugolini is working with Lisa Bogue, Larry Wallace, and Rolf Bork to set up the computer network in the lab in it's "final" configuration, with a gateway and a martian network for EPICS communication.
• Garilynn Billingsley has finalized the specs on Mode cleaner optics polishing, and is ready for review. See the last set of links on Garilynn's LIGO 40M COC Web Page. "it is a milestone!"
• Janeen Romie on suspensions: parts for the 7 SOS's (3 mode cleaner mirrors, BS, PRM, SRM, spare) are just about complete at Caltech CES. Janeen will start pre-cleaning of parts at So. Annex. They are in production for the new OSEMs, some of which are reserved for 40m (but LIGO I takes precedence). Janeen is starting to input the 40m Test Mass suspension drawings into IDEAS, then will make the appropriate changes for the larger, thinner test masses (5" by 2") and the change in optic center relative to the optical table.
• From Peter King on PSL optics: Peter will be ready to install the PSL laser and optics by April 2. Grad student Guillaume Michel will help assemble, commission and test the system; a summer SURF/REU student will contribute (in the summer).
• From Rick Karwoski on 40m/LASTI Cross-connect and General PSL assembly: We will be producing three cross-connect assemblies at the Bridge Lab. Work is currently in process.
• Contractor punch list: there remain some ~ 15 items left on the list of building-related activities (see tasks), that we'd like to finish before reverting to cleanroom conditions. There's some dispute over whether some of these items were part of the original plan. Fred Asiri, Steve Vass, and Ron Kibbe of CES are going over the list to finish the job, whether it be on Caltech's dime or ours.
• Guillaume Michel is running the E2E model of the dual-recycled 40m and trying to understand the output. He's developing a dual-recycling summation cavity primitive for E2E, and will discuss it with Biplab and Hiro.

February 9, 2001

• From Peter King, 40m PSL optics: Most of the optical mounts for the 40m Lab PSL and LASTI PSL have been ordered. The PSL optical table enclosure has been installed. Most of the installation was completed on the Thursday following last week's report with the bulk of the electrical installation being completed on Monday this week.
• From Rick Karwoski, PSL electronics: a set of PMC cards for LASTI and for 40m PSL's has been completely bench tested and will be system tested at Lauritsen soon. They are working with the crew at Hanford to update the current cross-connect documentation, and are rounding up components, cabling, etc. in preparation for the LASTI and 40m PSL's cross connect assembly.
• Ben Abbott has settled on the furniture (desks, chairs, etc) for the 40m control room, and ran it by Rolf, who said it looked good. Order will go out as soon as we learn from Fred Asiri whether there's enough Caltech funds to cover it; if not, it comes out of LIGO/NSF campus research funds.
• Ben Abbott and Jay Heefner have reviewed the electrical plant at the 40m, most of which is brand new and already wrong. A small amount of rewiring is needed, after which time we can bring power to the racks. As soon as we can get power into the PSL rack, we can begin assembling the PSL at the 40m lab!
• Mike Smith reports: The optical beam parameters (beam waist and radius) for the main beam and all of the pick-off beams at principal locations throughout the interferometer beam path were calculated. A two-lens mode-matching telescope for the input mode cleaner was designed and laid out using stock lenses. The optical design for an off-axis parabolic mirror mode-matching telescope for the IFO main beam was calculated; the positive mirror is a stock mirror and the negative mirror is a custom mirror. The optical design for an off-axis parabolic mirror mode-matching telescope for the output mode cleaner was calculated; the positive mirror is a stock mirror and the negative mirror is a custom mirror. Focussing lenses for reducing the beam waists of the pick-off beams were calculated. The opto-mechanical layout is being updated to reflect these new developments.
• Larry Jones has completed a drawing/design for the 29.5" diameter, 18" long adjustable bellows connecting the two 40m side chambers: the last piece of vacuum hardware we need.
• Larry and Steve Vass have remeasured several key dimensions in the 40m building and vacuum envelope, and have updated the ACAD drawing Mike Smith uses in his unified optomech / building / electrical ACAD layout.
• Varian has reveived our 5 ion pumps, and will regenerate them and ship them back to us by next Monday.
• We received a replacement for one STACIS isolator (out of 12) that has failed. Larry Jones has replaced it, and the replacement seems stable. We will hack a bit into the broken one before we return it.
• We received cleaned and baked vacuum parts for the output optic chamber, OOC seismic stack, and 12m mode cleaner, from A&N and from Allied Engineering. Still a few more parts to come.
• Caltech undergrad Eric Lin will work with Dennis Ugolini on measuring STACIS transfer functions and optimizing the loop gain on all 12 x 3 servo loops.
• Steve Vass and AJW were at Aspen this week.

Thermal Noise Interferometer (Libbrecht)

Our objective during this period was to fully characterize and understand
our suspended test cavity and the laser.
 

To achieve this goal, we first locked the laser to our reference cavity by
acting on the laser's pzt driver. This allowed us to pinpoint the driver's
efficiency to 0.7 MHz/V, a factor of 6 lower than expected. Furthermore,
inspection of the control signal (the signal sent to the driver to maintain
the light resonating in the reference
cavity) showed 'spikes' irregularly spaced in time, of amplitude ~1.5V and
~100ms of duration. An estimate of the laser frequency noise is
 

                     2000 Hz/rHz @ 100 Hz
                        30 Hz/rHz @  1 kHz
                        2  Hz/rHz @ 10 kHz
 

compared to the expected values of
 

                        200 Hz/rHz @ 100 Hz
                         20 Hz/rHz @  1 kHz
                          2 Hz/rHz @ 10 kHz
 

The laser frequency noise is found to be in excess by a factor of 10 at 100
Hz.
 

Having characterized the laser, we moved on to the study of the suspended
cavity. The cavity lock, robust with brief lock acquisition times, is
achieved by actuating on both the mirror and the laser pzt driver. In the
frequency window between 40 Hz and 100 kHz, our matlab model agrees well
with the data and we have a good understanding of the topology of the
system.  Below 40 Hz, however, there is a clear disagreement between the
data and the model that needs to be understood.
 

Different topologies were also tried to displace the crossover point
(ranging from 40 Hz to ~800 Hz) between the two control paths in order to
improve the gain of the system. We also tried different unity gain
frequencies (ranging from 1 kHz to 20 kHz) but have not settled yet on an
optimum configuration.
 

LASTI (Zucker)

Data Analysis and Computing (Lazzarini)

END-TO-END MODELING (E2E)
(Biplab Bhawal)
 

* Physics Studies
------------------
  (Biplab)
  A pattern for the lock-acquisition criteria with misalignments is
  emerging out of several runs made in last few weeks (although
  interrupted a number of times by power cut-off etc). Based on the
  understandings derived from all these complicated runs, I'm performing
  some simpler situation runs to find out causes behind successes and
  failures of the system in going from stage 2 or 3 to stage 4.
 

  First draft of a possible paper on our work on frequency sensor noise
  is almost ready.
 

* Code improvement
-------------------
  (Hiro and Tavio)
  Hiro worked on Adlib code improvement and some of the issues on
  noise generation.
  Tavio is  studying the Portable Expression Template Engine (PETE),
  a mechanism for loop unrolling and optimization of Array-based
  expressions which hopefully will be used to further speed up
  the end-to-end simulation.
  He will test the speed of matrix inversion and multiplication using
  LAPACK on HP computer, which showed good speed improvements compared
  to the e2e version of matrix class. When modeler is successfully
  ported to CACR, this will be tested.
 

* Client-Server Framework
--------------------------
  (Tavio and Ed maros)
  After last Wednesday's meeting, the idea to create a monolithic
  client-server system was dropped since it would not meet CACR's security
  or administrative requirements.
  On Monday, Ed Maros and Tavio met with a group of CACR people including
  Beven Bennet and discussed a plan for a client-side scripting mechanism
  to submit and review jobs where each user would have his own account on
  the system.  This idea was accepted by all of the CACR staff. As a result,
  Ed is writing a TCK script (`Jobber') that allows submission and query of
  jobs at CACR and Tavio is providing the details of job control on the
  CACR side.
 

* Alfi
-------
  (Bruce Sears)
  - Worked on connection and port problems, particularly checks against
    sink ports being connected to multiple times via derived nodes.
  - Reorganizing some of the core ALParser code to make sure methods are
    not being made redundant or are unused if they are not easily found.
 
 
 

LDAS SOFTWARE
(Kent Blackburn)
 

We are still busily preparing and fixing software issues in preparation for
the release of LDAS. A couple of problems in the metaDataAPI which impacted
the ability to get data out of the database were identified and have now
been fixed. Similar problems showed up in the lightWeightAPI and also have
now been fixed. The half dozen or so problems with the dataConditionAPI test
have now been reduce to a single known problem which we think we know the
fix
for. This problem involves linear filtering code for complex data sequences.
It will require a new set of test scripts to exercise this last remaining
bug.
 

The documentation for the LDAS release is now ready for the two new tarballs
of distribution code for the controlMonitorAPI client and frameCPP library.
 

New links were added to the LDAS software block diagram for the
eventMonitorAPI. Several meetings were held this week to outline the
development and implementation for the eventMonitorAPI now that the baseline
requirements are available.
 

A load balancing test plan was drafted and sent the MPI team for the
wrapperAPI and mpiAPI. This test will be performed on the version of these
APIs available with the next release.
 

We were hoping to be in a position to push a pre-release of LDAS to the
sites today but due to security issues at Hanford, we are now having to
change
all LDAS system account passwords which will prevent development and
debugging
on the systems for several hours and mostlikely delay our plans for a
software
push to the site until tomorrow. We will need to carry out our test
procedure
one last time once we have the code at the sites before officially tagging
the repository and preparing a new software release distribution.
 

A subcommittee of GWIC meet over the weekend to discuss network data
analysis. The outcome of the meeting is a plan to be in a position to share
a handful of PEM channels by June 1 of this year between LIGO, GEO and VIRGO
for the purpose of performing coincidence studies.
 

This week also involve a significant amount of interaction with the Upper
Limits groups, including a chairs meeting on Tuesday. Proposals are now
available from three of the groups with the fourth group planning to hold
its
first meeting on Friday of this week.
 
 
 

LDAS HARDWARE
(Stuart Anderson)
 

The last 2 years of LHO minute trend frames have been successfully retrieved
from the LDAS archive for re-transmission back to LHO after a recent disk
failure on the CDS frame builder.
 

ldas-dev survived a diesel generator power test at Caltech.
 

The main LDAS software server has been upgraded to 4GB of memory in
preparation
for transferring it for use as the ldas-dev database server.
 

Ordered additional memory for laptop and quad-xeon datacon box at ldas-dev.
 

The LDAS 30-slot AIT-2 robot has been returned to LHO from Cybernetics.
However, it is unclear what if anything was fixed/replaced.
 

The AIT-2 unit at LLO is undergoing continuing tests in preparation for the
E3 run attached to an U10 to avoid problems encountered during E2 run with
the drives attached to the main LDAS server.
 

Initial testing of the new AMD K7 and Intel P4 LDAS test machines running
a beta version of RedHat7.1 is proceeding well.
 

The LHO network diagram has been updated using Visio2000 to indicate the
move of LDAS from ATM to Gigabit Ethernet.
 

All LDAS Unix passwords have been changed.
 
 
 

GENERAL COMPUTING
(Larry Wallace)
 

MIT:
-Keith Bayer has joined us and is learning about and looking over the
 system. Larry Wallace will visit next week to give the larger picture and
 strategize.
 

Livingston:
(Shannon)
-Evaluating Quick Restore software on the
 Exabyte 220 tape library for use in GC backups.
-Installed the AIT2 tape library on
 decatur. (Daniel Sigg installed and configured it
 while at LLO)
-The 802.11b (wireless) network seems to be working
 very well.  I also have drivers for linux for the
 Lucent (and some other) pcmcia cards.
 Windows seems to work ok with it also, with the
 exception of one laptop which I have not been able
to troubleshoot yet.
 

Hanford: (NO REPORT)
 

CIT:
(Lisa)
-Took the laser safety eye-exam.
-Wrote scripts to put the daily & weekly backups onto the cybernetics robot.
 I'm still working out the kinks on those but am very close to getting the
 daily/weeklys off of poor, old, decrepit rastaban.
-Installed SunPCI cards for 2 computers on 6Millikan so that people can do
their pcard stuff on their sun boxes.
-Larry and I finally figured out why rsh to hamal wasn't working.  It was
the
 path specified for tcpd.
-Worked with Ed Chargois to get a laptop shipped back to Dell for repair.
 

(Sam)
-Worked on a number of PC issues.
-Assisted in a office redecoration.
 

(Barbara)
-Finished installing the stand-alone DCC report.  There is a link on the
 Internal Bulletin Board under Documents and Publications that will allow
 you to download a text version of the DCC database.  The text version can
 then be imported into a spreadsheet.
-Fixed a problem with the style sheet for the LIGO web site that occurred
 only in Netscape.
-Made a change to the weekly job that compacts the DCC database that may
 prevent future failures.  Also DCC will remember to shut down the database
 on Tuesday evenings.
-Helped a fellow from the astronomy department install TimeTarget (I am
 the keeper of the Caltech site license).
-Made numerous web site changes to LDAS and LIGO sites.
 

(Suresh)
-Begun restoring old data since 1994 from tape archives to 235 GB RAID
system
 in sargas. After restoring about 90 GB of data, this will be archived in
high
 capacity SONY tapes in compressed mode in Cybernetics robot backup system.
 This will free up substantial space in tape cabinet.
-Received 2810 ATM uplink module from Marconi Inc. Installed in 2810 of
 computer room and subsequently upgraded ATM firmware. Returned old unit to
 Marconi.
-Replaced Irena Petrac's PC with working one after observing erratic system
 crashes. Now I am working on the unit by replacing hard disk with a new
one.
-Installed a Network Interface Card (NIC) on system RANA to make a gateway
 machine to 115 and 113 subnets in 40-Meter.
-Updated HP Web Jetadmin Server to reflect new printers/plotters and their
 descriptions.
 

(Larry)
-Spent a great deal of time working on orders and pushing things through the
 system to get items in for the next NSF review and LSC meeting. So far it
looks
 like we will have the computers and projectors we need for the meetings.
-Resolved another procurement issue with SUN.
-Reworking a number of financial items. Fortunately I had a backup of my
work
 and only lost a small portion when my disk crashed.
-Resolved a couple of virus problems. There have been a number of machines
that
 had viruses mailed to them but only a couple which some repair work had to
be
 done.
-Just a reminder on the PC's using Eudora there is an attachment directory
that
 the files need to be cleaned out of. Just deleting the e-mail doesn't take
care
 of everything.
-Working a few more logistical issues with DCC and the LSC conference.
-Worked with Suresh to resolve a couple of network issues. Hopefully, we
will be
 able to do some testing with the 2810's under different configurations this
next
 month.
 
 

LIGO II/Advanced R&D (Sanders)

Advanced LIGO PSL
Peter King
        I had a few discussions with Benno Willke about the timing of
things.  Especially about when a good time for the electronics engineer
from GEO to visit might be.
 

3.2 40m Lab
        Quotations have been gathered for the optics in order to comply
with the multiple bid requirement.  Some pieces of the optical mounting
hardware are beginning to trickle in.
 

After speaking with Mike Smith, I will design an on-table mechanical
beam
block to stop the PSL beam going into the modecleaner.  This will be in
addition to any shutter located between the PSL enclosure and the vacuum
chamber.

From: Riccardo DeSalvo <desalvo@ligo.caltech.edu>

Informal and out of time meeting.
The two crates containing the TAMA SAS towers and related linear
electronics have been shipped to Tokyo, have arrived, have been
redressed and are already in the optics laboratory.
The crates will be opened shortly and the pre-tuned tower will be ready
to be lowered in their respective vacuum chambers.  Then the tuning
testing and installation of the suspensions will begin over there.
People interested in photos, please look into:
http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~takamori/images/tamasas/
The digital electronics is scheduled to fly to Japan on February 20th.
Akiteru is flying over on the 15th and Riccardo on the 17th.
 

Next meetings will be move don Thursdays in order not to have it on
Saturdays in Japan (simple isn’t it?).
The exact date is Thursday the 22nd at 5 p.m. California time, which
makes it on Friday the 23rd at 10 a.m. in Japan.  The place in
California is still the small engineering room.  T.b.d. in Tokyo.
 
 

Virginio, Akiteru
Continuing control development on the test TAMA SAS tower.
LVDT controls work very well, Inertial damping with the accelerometer is
OK in the yaw mode  but there is a problem in signal to noise in
diagonalization of the two translational direction.  Given the quality
of the LVDT controls, Virginio’s idea is to excite the chain on the LVDT
translation eigenmodes and align the virtual accelerometers on the same
reference system.  Virginio will try it since Akiteru will be gone and
the active controls will not be operational in Japan for a while.
 

IP, solved the problem of the attenuation plateau.  It was an artifact
of the tuning springs (Not connected to the shaken part) generating an
offset in the counterweight calibration transfer functions.
Now that the problem is understood we can calculate and cut the last
small correction counterweights.
 

Alessandro, Carlo
Machining the accelerometers from 8 CuBe blocks from a new company and
from two replacement (radiographed) blocks from the old German
provider.  The 8 new blocks are workable easily, just great, the 2
blocks from the old company keep breaking tools like last time and are
almost unmachineable.  Interviewed the metallurgist of the new company,
he explained that CERTAINLY the other CuBe contain Nickel within the
CuBe specs but in concentrations that make it unmachineable.  Everybody
know in the market that the official CuBe specifications are
unsatisfactory and unscrupolous vendors give away the bad kind to
unknowledgeable clients.  Good show!!!  The company to be avoided is
DURO METALL, Metall&Schweisstechnic GMBH I Dusserdolf.
I do not have yet the name of the better company which is in Milano.
 

Edwin, Riccardo
Continuing studies on hysteresis in blade clamping.  Studying the
possibilities of using harder clamps and wedges and to make the blades
thicker at the clamped area.
We will also make new holders for the mini-MGASF blades.
 

Edwin
Restarting the creep work.
 

Frederic
Taken service again in Lyon, he will organise a small team of wannabe
French engineers from there.  He is getting tooled: "Note that we just
bought a vacuum chamber and a special device (sensor) in the lab to
measure Sapphire quality factor for the DGA (army)."   So thanks to the
French Army Surplus Cryo seems to be in business already.

For additional information about this report, contact sanders@ligo.caltech.edu