Weekly Report for Week Ending June 12, 2003

The LIGO Executive Committee Agenda for Monday  June 16, 2003 will be:

STAFFING COMMITTEE MEETING

Special Announcements:

THANKS TO ALL WHO BROUGHT US TO THIS SUCCESSFUL REVIEW THROUGH THE HARD WORK ON ADVANCED LIGO DEVELOPMENT AND THE HARD WORK ON INITIAL LIGO THAT THE PANEL CITED AS REASON TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN US.

GHS

SUMMARY REPORT TEXT:

•  Advanced LIGO will provide the capability to observe a variety of astrophysical phenomena including inspiral events, continuous-wave sources, bursts, and stochastic backgrounds.  Achievement of the design strain sensitivity (more than a factor of ten beyond Initial LIGO) is feasible and detection of events is plausible.  Detection of any source would be a dramatic direct confirmation of the existence of gravitational waves and would have exciting and wide-ranging implications for gravitational physics, astrophysics, and our understanding of the universe.

•  The committee agrees that the current state of the proposed project is at a sufficiently mature level that the process leading to construction should proceed.  Although technical challenges remain, the plan for solving the technical problems appears sound and no major obstacles have been identified that would justify delaying the construction of Advanced LIGO.

In detail the committee has observed that:
 
•  The procurement of optimal coatings for the advanced LIGO detector represents a significant technical risk, but the evaluation and down-selection processes for this item have been identified.  Given the potential options available, the range of uncertainty encompasses variations of a factor of 20% in sensitivity to the detection of sources.

•  Two options exist for the test mass substrate material for advanced LIGO: sapphire and fused silica.  There are appropriate technical evaluation and selection processes in place.  Only one vendor currently appears capable of supplying sapphire substrates and the required low absorption in large sapphire material is yet to be demonstrated.  The range of uncertainty associated with the available options encompasses potential variations of a factor of 20% in sensitivity to detection of sources.

•  The plan for procurement of the 180-Watt laser for Advanced LIGO is sound.  A major challenge for the laser program is the demonstration of amplitude stability at the level of 2 10-9/ Hz 1/2.  The potential risk is a factor of 20% in sensitivity for the detection of sources if design goals are not met.

•  The optical components must be tested at the expected high-power operating levels associated with Advanced LIGO to insure that potential issues including charging, absorption in sapphire, mechanical losses in the coatings, and long-term degradation are addressed.

•  The seismic isolation concept is based on substantial experience at JILA.  The control of a two stage platform, with the required gain, in the 1-10 Hz band is a challenging task.  Results of the simulation and first dynamical tests on the Stanford prototype (ETF) are encouraging.  Further testing at the ETF will be valuable for the control strategy and to demonstrate the satisfaction of the requirements.

•  We commend basing the suspension design on the mature and proven GEO600 design.  The planned integration of a full scale prototype combining the suspension together with the active seismic isolator in the LASTI facility will be very valuable test.  Damping of internal modes is required.  Special attention is required to avoid introduction of sensor noise into the observation band.  Full modeling of the seismic isolation and the suspension system is encouraged.

•  We recommend that the Advanced LIGO team investigate the importance of the electrostatic  charging of the mirrors soon.  Charge buildup mitigation measures may influence the mirror design.

•  End to end (e2e) modeling has been critical in predicting operating parameters of Initial LIGO.  We encourage the adoption and expansion of the e2e-modeling to Advanced LIGO prior to the construction phase.  Additional resources may have to be added.

•  The committee commends the progress in creating the data analysis community within the LSC.  We support the distributed computing model and their expanding use of the Grid.  Their plan for Advanced LIGO computing is sound.

•  The committee looked at the cost estimate for Advanced LIGO construction and in a few selected cases examined how the estimates were arrived at down to the most detailed WBS level.  The committee concludes that the cost estimate is the result of a very thorough and well executed process and found no reason to question the reliability of the estimate.  Given the good track record of their management team in the cost estimates and execution of the initial LIGO project, the committee concludes that the present management team has a high probability of completing Advanced LIGO with the cost estimate presented.

•  Based on the quality of the cost estimate and the good contingency experience in the initial LIGO construction project, the committee concludes that there is a good chance that the level of 27 %contingency will be sufficient to complete the project.  As protection, a list of possible scope reductions was identified, totaling somewhat over 10% of the total project cost.  Some of the items on the list allow the scope to be recovered at a later date without severe schedule penalty, others are of a nature that the scope reduction can not be restored and thus lead to significant reductions in the eventual sensitivity of Advanced LIGO.

•  The estimated operating budget for Advanced LIGO represents a substantial increase over the present level of operating and R&D support of Initial LIGO.  The committee believes that given the added complexity of Advanced LIGO such an increased level is reasonable but should be revisited as the project matures.

•  Given the good schedule performance of the initial LIGO project the committee has no reason to doubt the validity of the schedules presented for the completion of the Advanced LIGO project.

•  The management plan for Advanced LIGO is based directly on the approach and tools that have already proved to be successful in managing initial LIGO essentially on time and budget.  This approach could well serve as a model for other major scientific construction projects.

•  The total funding plan relies on a number of different sources of support – new funds for construction, R&D funding from the current operations budget, installation and commissioning funds from the anticipated cooperative agreement for 2007-2011, individual grants to members of the LSC, and contributions from foreign partners.  Close collaboration with the NSF will be required to ensure that both adequate coordination of funding sources and compliance with internal regulations at NSF are maintained.

•  An installation plan has been developed which makes maximum use of existing manpower and minimizes the need for extra contract labor.  It assumes roughly a six month stagger between the start of installation at each of the laboratory sites and extends for about two years including the commissioning.  To aid in the installation of the significantly more complex in-vacuum components, the LASTI facility at MIT will be used as an instructional test bed for training personnel for the installation.  The committee endorses this plan.

•  The LSC and LIGO observatories are to be commended for a sustained commitment and planning process to produce a coherent strategy for developing future education and outreach initiatives.  The current NSF proposal for the observatories has been developed through an excellent planning process that builds community support.  The timeline is reasonable and the new staff is adequate for the start-up period.

•  Scaling up the assessment of educational needs from 2 to 30 - 40 institutions requires careful planning so that LSC members build local community support through personal contacts. The relationships among scientists, teachers and community members are key to the success of local programs.  One possibility is to build an inventory of core program models for K-12 from which LSC member institutions can pick and choose to create their own focus.  These programs should not replace participation in ongoing local programs that are outside the scope of the core programs.

•  Depending on the number of LSC member institutions that offer education and outreach activities, and the design and scope of the core program, it may be necessary to hire additional outreach assistants to maintain an adequate support level that assures program quality and supports evaluation and reporting requirements in 2006. A realistic staff member/member institution ratio might be 1:12 – 15.
 
 

Weekly Report Highlights
 

LSC Issues (Saulson)

no report

LIGO I Construction/LIGO Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)

Laboratory Administration (Lindquist)

LIGO Weekly Site Telecon (Lindquist)

There was no site teleconference held on Thursday, June 12, 2003 due to the NSF Review of the Advanced LIGO Proposal.

The list of current actions revised to reflect the status of open actions assigned through May 29, 2003 may be found at ACTION LIST.

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

• Provided assistance to the Detector Group (H. Armandula) with packing and shipping of several Substrates (Optics) to Research Electro-Optics (D. Ness), Boulder CO.  Account Number P204317.
• Provided assistance to the Detector Group (H.Armandula) with packing and shipping of two (2) Substrates (Optics) to MIT (G. Harry).  Account Number P204317.
• Prepared a Purchase Requisition for two (2) Taylor-Dunn Electric Carts for LHO, Schedule Delivery date 3 July 03. Account Number LIGO.HAN 2.2.4 NSFLIGO.FY02OF.
• Assisting Caltech Property Services with the Annual Campus Inventory..

>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

• Nothing significant to report.

 

 

• Reminder to LIGO staff:  Please make sure that as a minimum, each document submitted has a LIGO number, author's name, and date.  It's surprising how many documents are missing one of more of these essential pieces of information!.

ACTIVITY

• No report this week

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>

• Completed an internal modification to CSRS, change order #3 and an internal modification to Star Service, change order #14 to Crystal Systems, change order #10 to F Kaufman, change order #16 to Research Electro Optics, and change order #12 to Venturi Staffing.
• Working on an change order #5 and an internal modification to U.S. DOE, change order #3 to Lawrence Berkeley,  Received 7 change orders for Triad which I am working on.
• Pcard administrators are now requiring invoices or priced packing slips for all pcard orders.  I have gone back and obtained hard copies of receipts on April's pcard report and also May's pcard report.  As a rule, I am now asking vendors to automatically fax invoices rather than obtaining the information over the phone.  .

• No report this week.

• Prepared three Cost Transfers.
• Provided information on Costs to Date by WBS Numbers for report on usage of Construction Contingency.
• Updated Constructions reports.
• Worked on Policy and Procedures Manual.
• Responded to request from Project Accounting for required funding realignments in the Constructin Award.

 
• Financial reports can be found at: http://docuserv.ligo.caltech.edu/~fireport

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

• AdLIGO Optics Coating RFP: The RFP package is out on the street. Proposals are due end of the month. Proposers Teleconference is planned.
• Crystal Systems Inc.: CO No. 14, for the purchase of additional HEM sapphire test flats, was released to Purchasing.
• Research Electro-Optics: CO No. 16, for coating of additional LIGO supplied test optics, was released to Purchasing.

• The modifications to the LHO Laboratory Building are nearing the final stage of completion.
• The LDAS area of the LLO Staging Building is having a new air conditioning system put in to accommodate the additional computers installed.  The existing air conditioning system will be moved to the second floor hallway.
• Three bids have been received for furniture for the LLO auditorium lobby.  Barry Barish will review the samples provided when he is there next week.

• A teleconference on the subject of the Maiden Wind Farms near LHO was held on June 12.  Participating were representatives and attorneys from LIGO, the NSF, BGPL, and the University of Washington.  The strategy for submitting a package to the Benton County Board of Adjustment was agreed upon, as well as the timing for submission of a letter from the NSF.

SUPPORT (Baldon, Lloyd, Tischler)

>Irene Baldon

• No report this week (illness).

 

 

• Processed the usual invoices for payment. Tracked and followed up on invoice problems. Reviewed and recorded payments processed by Esther the week of June 2.
• Processed the usual requisitions, change orders and payment requests.
• Continue to monitor contract and blanket order encumbrance and notify task managers when supplements are needed.
• Jim continues with data entry in the LIGO database and helping out in the DCC.

• NSF review of Advanced LIGO

Advanced LIGO (Frey)

Attended NSF review meetings on June 11th and 12th.

For list of documents that are being used to develop Adv. LIGO Cost and Schedule, see http://www.ligo.caltech.edu/~tfrey/Cost_MTG_082002/

Advanced LIGO MRE Proposal (Highest Priority)

• Updated a PowerPoint slide for Gary by removing Advanced LIGO.
• Finished input of available cost data, WBS definitions, and Basis of Estimates.
• Prepared hard copies of Cost Book, Cost Book Summary, and WBS Dictionary.
• Purchased tabloid and letter size notebooks and dividers.
• Executed printing and reproduction with Kinko's.  Acquired refunds for botched work and over charge.
• Burned CDs with PDF of cost book notebooks for the NSF.
• Started to prepare expense report for re-imbursement.
• Prepared PDF copies of Cost Book, Cost Book Summary, and WBS Dictionary, and issued to DCC.
• The following is a summary of status by sub system:
• COC - Still need completed WBS dictionary and BOE.
• PSL -  No action items pending.
• AOS - Still need completed WBS dictionary and BOE.
• IO -  Still need completed WBS dictionary and BOE.
• SUS - No action items pending.
• Schedule revisions pending in accordance with Dennis' acceleration plan.
• SEI - Completed WBS entries and BOE entries.
• ISC - Completed WBS entries and BOE entries.
• LDAS - No action required at this point in time.
• INSTALL - Completed WBS entries and BOE entries.
• DAQ - No action required at this point in time.
• PM - No action required at this point in time.
• FAC - No action required at this point in time.
• SUP - No action required at this point in time.

• Continue input of changes and comments from Mike Zucker.

• ROSTER DATABASE:
• BK is continuing work on action items.
• Input of supervisor, dept., and specialty codes on hold until after review.
• Adjusted authorship queries to use new data input by Irena.
• Purchased software to Word DOC conversion to LaTex format.
• Re-iterated authorship list.
• Prepared a FTE breakdown of the LSC by organization.

• COST BOOK DATABASE:
• BK is continuing work on action items.

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

The Construction project quarterly report for the end of February was scheduled to be submitted at the end of March.  Irena has been working on this, but has been distrtacted by a number of other priority issues: LSC, contract activities for seismic isolation, optics coatings, etc.  We have discussed priorities, and the quarterly report is still slipping.

Things we are going to need to do in the near future include the work plan for FY 2004 Operations, the Final Report for the Construction Project.

The following change requests are pending or new.  Dennis Coyne submitted CR-030013 for Atomic Clock Timing Systems. I will request that these change requests be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the Executuve Committee.

CR-030008	Furniture for the auditorium lobby, interaction area underneath the skylight atrium in the OSB, and on the second floor interaction area of the new laboratory/office building. (ON HOLD pending additional cost data.)	M. Coles	April 29, 2003
CR-030011	Seismic External Pre-Isolation at LIGO Livingston Observatory	D. Coyne	May 16, 2003
CR-030013	Atomic Clock Timing Systems	D. Coyne	June 9, 2003

From: Cindy Akutagawa <cindy@ligo.caltech.edu>

• Various personnel/payroll /HR related work.

Quality/Safety (Tyler)

• No report this week.

LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO) and Interferometer Operations (Raab)

Summary of Commissioning Activities at LIGO Hanford Observatory (compiled by M. Landry)

We have had another incident on the LHO 2k IFO in which a small optic wire has broken.  Unfortunately, the wire supporting MMT1 was severed by the laser during positioning of the RM to land the beam on the new combined MMT2 baffle and beam dump.  Currently a spare MMT1 optic is being prepped, plus additional baffles for installation in HAM7, likely mid or late next week.  Modelling is underway to better understand stray beam paths; for the time being we've shuttered both the 2k and 4k lasers.  Work that does not require the interferometers, such as PSL/PMC/RefCav tuning, and AS sensing chain measurements, is underway.

A series of elogs relating to MMT1 can be found starting here.

SURF students have a arrived at the lab, including Katherine Pegors, Anah Mourant, Rachel Berkowitz, Jared Markowitz and Drew Barker.

4K IFO

After last week's vent, the 4k ITMX pointing was restored with a 0.55mrad rotation in yaw via the coarse actuation system (Guenther, Radkins, Sigg).  Radkins notes that flaky behaviour and delays in coarse actuation startup were due to faulty cable connections at the CA computer.  Initially, floating of the air bearings excited the optics, possibly due to underuse: the remainder of the yaw actuation was smooth. Read some CA entries here.

The 4k MC and PRM had been relocked earlier in the week, but we have not been able to expose the arms to the cornerstation.  It is likely that the vacuum will be at a sufficient level to do so next week.
 

LIGO Livingston Observatory (LLO) and Interferometer Operations (Zucker)

no report
 

Detector/Technical Support (Coyne)

40 Meter Interferometer (Weinstein)

• Koji Arai helped Mike Smith and Alexei Ourjoumtsev re-assemble and align the vacuum-prepped mode-matching telescope and Faraday isolator before he left, and is preparing a writeup of the procedure.
• Lisa G and SURF students Matt and Naman are going through daily lab checklists, using EPICS, dataviewer and the iLog.
• Osamu returned from Japan, where he helped Kentaro lock his 4-meter signal-recycled Michelson, detuned. They moved on to the signal-recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson, in broad-band RSE. After much tuning and aligning, they were successful in both configurations. He modeled the error signals and power outputs with Finesse, and saw good agreement with the experiment.
• Core digital suspension controllers (DSC), LSC, ASC, and other Electronics (B. Abbott, Heefner, Bork, Taylor):
• From Rolf:

- Primary goals for this week are to get the ETM controls installed and running the the 40m lab and, now that we have enough high speed (2Gbit/sec) network interface boards, to remove the slower network completely from the 40m lab and go with the single fast network.
- The first objective is almost complete. The ETM control PC and ETMY VME systems are installed and running. There is about a day of testing remaining, primarily DAQ and GDS connections. The ETMX VME is a direct copy, so should come up quickly after ETMY testing.
- The move to the single network is complete, but there was a snag. The Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) software was written to run on the older MIPS processors, but the new network cards do not work on these CPU boards (don't even get power indications on the cards). So, we have had to port the AWG code to Pentium processors. While this seemed straight forward and compiled fine, it did not work properly. It looks like Alex got it running last night though, so we'll test it more thoroughly today.
• From Jay:

- The databases, processors and VME modules for the ends are installed and operational. Medm screens need to be generated. Checkout of the racks will begin next week.
• From Jay:

- All rack drawings and wiring diagrams for the ASC and LSC are now complete.
- Cross connect fabrication will begin next week and should take about 2 weeks. Rack assembly will begin after the cross connects are complete.
- The schematics for the new QPD to ICS interface moduel are complete. Board layout will begin next week.
• Art and Bob have been completing the remaining cabling to/from the ETM racks; just a bit more to do. Dennis set up ethernet hubs at the ends.
• Dennis set up memory dipswitches on 1X1 VME boards with Alexei.
• Lisa has got the video EPICS controls working, and succeeded in getting signals to the control room projector and monitor. So right now we can see ITMX, ITMY, MC13 & MC2. She's running cables from the PSL and IMCR & SPS beamline cameras to the switch, with help from Bob. She has added illuminator buttons to the video EPICS screen, and is refining the layout.
• Suspended mass mode cleaner (Ugolini, Miyakawa, Vass, Abbott):
• The DSC and MC electronics are down, while Rolf and Alex make big changes.
• Osamu is back, and preparing to optimize the gains, cross-over frequency, and other parameters, to minimize the frequency noise.
• Mode Cleaner WFS system (Ourjoumtsev, Abbott, Eichenfield):
• Due to the DSC and PSL activities, WFS commissioning has been less productive than last week.
• Alexei tuned the second WFS demod board
• Alexei measured DC gains on both WFS heads.
• As soon as the MC is back up, Alex will measure the RF gains and match the overall phases on the WFS. Then he'll move the PZT mirrors with dtt. Then he can finally start taking transfer functions and commission the servo loop.
• Matt is helping Alexei with the WFS work and is learning all about it, to continue that work when Alexei leaves.
• Matt is working through Eric Black's paper on PDH locking, w hich led him to working out the FP arm reflected beam properties when it is not in equilibrium with the cavity (found a good paper by Benno Wilke and Robert Byer)
• PSL and ISS (O. Miyakawa, B. Abbott, R. Abbott, F. Nocera, D. Ugolini, S. Vass, C. Mow-Lowry):
• Plan to re-layout the PSL sometime in the next two weeks.
• Optical sensing (Smith, Ourjoumtsev, Goggin, Miyakawa, Arai):
• OPTICS PARTS LIST, Orders pending: 1 q-switch E/O shutter from Fast Pulse.
• FARADAY ISOLATOR: Assembly is expected the week of 6/16.
• OPTICAL LEVER ASSY: Assembly on hold.
• IFO STEERING MIRRORS: Parts are cleaned and baked. Assembly is expected the week of 6/16.
• MODE MATCHING TELESCOPE: Telescope is aligned and is awaiting installation.
• SPS BREWSTER PRISM MIRROR: Parts are cleaned and baked. Assembly is expected the week of 616.
• Electro-optic shutters (Smith, Ourjoumtsev):
• Alexei realigned the EOS after modifications on the PSL table. Transmission goes from 0.025% to 98%, half-wave voltage is 3.79V.
• Alexei is commissioning the EPICS control of the EOS's. Bob did some of the cabling for it.
• Facilities and vacuum envelope (Ugolini, Vass, Jones):
• Steve Regenerated cryo. Maglev is still noisy a bit.
• Steve ordered quad splitters for video monitors.
• Steve helped Koji with mode-matching telescope alignment.
• Steve measured 670nm transmittance of 40m safety glasses.
• South Annex Bake Ovens (Taylor):
• Bob is doing a bake job on some more of the LHO baffle parts for Ken Mailand, they are in the oven now.
• Bob is doing the clean and bake of the Pico Motors used to drive the shutter flags.
• Bob has received the spare MOS and SOS suspensions to be baked when he gets a chance.

Thermal Noise Interferometer (Libbrecht)

no report

LASTI (Zucker)

report in Advanced LIGO report

Data Analysis and Computing (Lazzarini)

Simulation and Modeling (Bhawal)
SimLIGO
--------
(Matt) This week I worked on turning out an update to SimLIGO. The new version
 includes a working Common Mode servo (using the standard control scheme
 rather than non-resonant sidebands), ASC control of all DOF, functional
 if not robust lock acquisition, and many automated measurement scripts.
 

 The noise curves produced by SimLIGO continue to show an unidentified
 noise source between 30 and 300Hz that fills in the bottom of the spectrum.
 We suspect that this noise arises from some non-linear effect, but
 the details are not understood.  If this is not an artifact of simulation
 it has potential to be a limiting noise source for LIGO, so finding
 its origin is of some importance. Interersted readers may refer to:
www.ligo.caltech.edu/~e2e/pdfs/SimLIGONoise030611.pdf .
 

WFS signals
------------
(Biplab) Calculated WFS signals for the as-built LIGO hot-state and near-hot
 states. Trying to understand trends for some differences.
 

Code development and maintenance
---------------------------------
(Melody)
  - Worked on figuring out why NaN's were being generated for the SimLIGO
    output file by the modeler compiled with no optimizations using
    gcc 3.2.2. The cause was an unitialized value in one of the modules.
  - Finished comparing the results generated by Sun and Linux systems
    using different compiler versions and optimization levels.
  - Started looking into using a compiler to process the FUNC_xxx modules.
 

(Hiro) Studied Matt's new optics model; Worked with Melody to understand
   the compiler dependence/CPU dependence.
 

Alfi
-----
(Bruce)
        - Completed work on Copy/Paste problems with Macro and settings not
          being copied into the new nodes properly (PRs 394 and 413).
        - Fixed problem with junction removal (PR 412).
        - Implemented changes in Alfi which cleared up inconsistencies in
          where the E2E_PATH was being found/generated (PR 395).
        - Created a script for Unix for startup of Alfi via WebStart which
          will allow command line arguments to be used (PR 401).
        - Created documentation on the Web for many of these new features
          as download/install instructions where needed (partial PR 376).
 

LIGO Data Analysis System
 

Software Systems (Blackburn)
A problem with the database tables at LHO was discovered while upgrading that
site to the new release of LDAS. This required a full days effort by Mary and
Igor to sort out and test. It eventually evolved to require a full back up and
restore of the database tables there. The problem is thought to be related to
the T3 crash that occurred during the S2 run at Hanford.
 

We have started testing the RDS frames in the archive on the LDAS-CIT system.
This is being done by running a couple of the burst jobs on all the lock data
sections. We are about half way through the Hanford RDS frames at this time.
So far we have discovered one bad RDS frame and one lock section (according
to the DMT lock segments in the database) with missing frames. Once a complete
list of suspicious RDS frames are generated Philip Charlton will look into the
details to see if the lock segment info is incorrect and if the source frames
for the RDS generation were erroneous before attempting to fill in any missing
frames (currently thought to be order a couple for LHO). We will then repeat
the procedure for LLO RDS frames.
 

Since the code freeze has been lifted, we have begun working on our targets
for the next release of LDAS we plan the following optimistic goals:
 

a) migration to GCC 3.3 and possibly GCC 3.3.x (we've already identified a
   necessary patch for GCC 3.3's string class!)
b) migration to 64 bit compilations for Solaris (this will increase the
   amount of memory that can be used in the frameAPI to all that is in
   the server).
c) migration to Redhat 9 (support for Redhat 7.x is being dropped by Redhat
   this year).
d) migration to TCL/TK 8.4.x (this will fix several instabilities in TCL
   code).
e) rewrite the metaDataAPI to be multi-threaded and push computationally
   demanding TCL procedures into C++.
f) introduce C++ threaded functions in the diskCacheAPI to eliminate the
   blocking of jobs when the diskCacheAPI is learning about new frames in
   the system.
g) migration to IBM's DB2 version 8.1 or above (Version 7.2 doesn't work
   under Redhat 9 and vesion 8.1 just barely is working and may require
   a new release from IBM to fix the issues DB2 is having with Redhat 9's
   new thread model).
 

We have improved the distribution of the wrapperAPI's master process onto
the Beowulf cluster this week. We have started improvements on the framequery
option to better handle datasets from multiple interferomenters. The command
to get channel names has been extened to support other data structures in the
frame spec besides FrADCs.
 

Several of us in the group have also been involved with the PAC and NSF
reviews late last week and this week.
 

Hardware Systems (Wilson for Anderson, who is traveling)
CIT
 

Al
Set up new nodes for the Dev system. Datacon and Beowulf machines are
upgraded to RH9.0 Also setting up desk top machines for SURF students.
The rack for the Cit system are in place and are ready for the
computers. Also The A/C unit is installed and ready for final plumbing.
 

Dan
continued refreshing NDAS frames to 9940B (higher density) drives. Am
continuing to try to get Sun to figure out why the first few tapes were
written with small block sizes (16k).  Subsequent tapes are being
written with the correct block size (256k).
Got StorageTek to bring our 2 new 9940Bs online.  Their power supplies
still don't have the correct mounting hardware.  But they are ready to
go from our end.
(In Powell-Booth, with Stuart) Swapped in our new Jupiter FC switch to
replace the beta edition we had been using.  Installed 3510 disk arrays
in rack.
 

LHO
Ben & Greg
Ben Johnson has been doing most of the LDAS system administration work
at LHO the past week, while I have worked with my SURF student and
prepared for next week's PULG F2F meeting.  However, Ben and I (mostly
Ben) continue to work on the installations of the new LDAS beowulf
cluster, new L700 tape library system, new switches, and the recabling
of the LDAS room to work with the new switches. I have also continued to
work with Igor Yakushin to exchange AS_Q only S2 RDS frames between the
sites.
 

LLO
Igor
Reinstalled DB2 at LHO to fix the corrupted database catalog. Copied
LLO's AS_Q only RDS to tape and sent to LHO. Copying LHO's AS_Q only RDS
to disk (for some reason it is very slow - 10 hours per tape). On Sunday
I discovered water dripping from the ceiling in the LDAS room. AC
repairman told that the problem was that PVC vent, that is supposed to
be closed, was actually open and sucked an air which condensed inside
the system. The problem was fixed. No damage to LDAS equipment. Writing
scripts to automatically set up replication sources and subscriptions.
Ordered a replacement for yet another failed T3 disk.
 

Data Analysis Activities (Lazzarini)
 

Mendell:
1) Started work with my Surf Student, Anah Mourant, on her project to
estimate signal parameters from simulated continuous wave data.
 

2) Wrote a simple simulation of the stackslide search and prepared for
the PULG F2F meeting next week. The work in focusing on very basic
things at the moment: understanding the algorithm, its computational
complexity, and associated statistics.
 

Charlton:
FCT:
The FCT group is working on a new paper describing the "generalised" FCT
algorithm and comparing it with matched filtering methods.
I have been working on code to demonstrate the fraction of SNR recovered
by the FCT algorithm as a function of chirp times (\tau_0 and \tau_1) of
an inspiral signal using the LIGO I noise curve.
 

Chirplets:
I have been working on some prototype code in matlab to decompose a data
set in a chirplet basis.
 

Weinstein:
- last week, I prepared & gave a talk on burst search to PAC14
- working on burst S1 paper editing
- trying to quantitatively compare our results with bar results.
 

Reilly, K.:
This week I finished up the cvs move and helped with getting
people their GC accounts so they can access the stochastic disk space.
I am back to working on the re-design of the stochastic DSO. After
working through some LDAS issues, the intermediate data products
are now being generated here at Caltech.  It will take several days
to have these products in hand.
 

Shawhan:
I spent several days investigating a peculiar thing that I noticed about
the Monte Carlo simulation which is used to measure the efficiency of the
analysis pipeline for the S1 inspiral upper limit analysis: a significant
number of very large simulated signals were not found by the search code.
Some loss was expected due to the chi-squared cut we make in the analysis,
but the observed loss was much higher than expected.  After tracking this
down with Duncan, Patrick and Jolien at UWM, it turns out that part of
the loss was due to a bug in the code which caused some of the planned
simulated signals to be skipped; this will require re-running some of the
Monte Carlo jobs.  The rest of the effect is apparently a real effect in
the chi-squared test which is mysterious but is not as serious a concern,
since the analysis pipeline is identical for Monte Carlo and regular data.
 

General Computing (Wallace)
 

MIT:
(Keith)
-Continuing to investigate triplesync problems with brownbear tech support
-Investigating samba over SSH for windows PC's
 

Livingston:
(Shannon)
-Set up several workstations for our summer visitors.
-Attending a Usenix conference and tutorials.
 

Hanford:
(Christine)
- More SURF student account and computer set-up.
- Computer and account set-up and purchases for summer outreach teachers
and new hires.
- Rack mount and initial configuration of the new Cisco router
completed.  Nothing is connected to it yet.
- Spoke with Jim Schroeder of ESnet to schedule connection of our new
OC3 network.  The plan is to connect the week of 6/21/03, actual day and
time to be determined by 6/19/03.  ESnet will accept their new OC12
connection on 6/16 and will do the change over on the evening of 6/19.
LHO will have a short network outage on 6/19 when they do the change
over.
- The PR for the GigE network equipment was sent to Dot last week, but
there have been some changes to the quote that need to be modified in
the PR.
- Setting up a new laptop for Fred. Finished setting up a new laptop for
the new optics lab.
- Lots of user support.
 

CIT:
(Mike)
-Worked on Barry Barish's laptop due to a wireless problem. I had to call
this laptop in, after many hours of trouble shooting plus many hours of
dealing with IBM tech support on the phone trying to order the part. IBM is
sending me out a replacement part to correct this problem.
-Worked on finishing up loading a workstation for Enrico Campagna. This
included loading multiple engineering software packages, plus General
Computing software.
I also swapped out his old computer and slaved his old drive to the new
computer to have this user back up and running, right away.
-Worked on loading two new computers with General Computing software and
additional engineering software for Alan Weinstein. I also took these
computers over to 40meter and set these workstations up.
-Fixed a problem with M91 our media server that was having a problem with
backups. I ended up having to stop and restart services. Then I had to
reboot several times after going through and cleaning up registry errors
that were coming up at the startup after a reboot.
-Updated all NTSRV's with security/os updates.
-Started loading a computer that we inherited from LDAS. I will be loading
this computer as my master image to load an additional seven computers to
swap out some of our older computers that will be used for visitors/surf
students.
-Performed a lot of onsite/phone user support this week, that included software,
networking & printer issues.
-Helped Larry & Lisa set up the NSF conference.
 

(Lisa)
- Preparation and support for the NSF review.
- Added a new block of IP numbers to DHCP.
- Worked on solaris 9 jumpstart server.
- User support - mostly for the students.
 

(Veronica)
- LIGO website: installed PAC14 talks. Posted updates to various pages.
Tracked a late Aspen talk and added to the conference website.
Edited a high-res image per a request from MIT for a paper submission.
Made a DVD copy for Kip Thorne. After some trial and error, we decided
that an upgrade was needed for my CD/DVD authoring software. Installed the
upgrade; picked up a copy of the package for Mike. Use the last CaJAGWR
video as a tryout for video capturing and editing.
Working on an inventory of 'non-static' directories on Windows servers for
more selective backup, to save tape space.
Provided user support.
- Advanced LIGO website: posted last-minute updates.
- LSC website: discussed with Peter Saulson changes/updates to be made to
the website. Implementing them one by one.
- CaJAGWR website: taped the last seminar. Processing the video for web
streaming. Provided user support. Making a backup CD of presentations
located outside of ITS disk space.
 

(Larry)
-Spent time working on a number of procurements and related issues. Purchased a
number of misc. items for different people. Spent a number of hours getting the
warranty upgrade on Barry's laptop. This should help Mike with the problem he
has had in getting IBM to repair a defective part in a unit we recently
purchased.
-Assisting on the setup for the NSF review has take a great deal of our time the
past few days. Many thanks to Lisa and Mike for putting in the extra effort and
time to make sure things worked, not only with the computers but with the room
setups, catering, audio visual work, moving furniture in and out from the
different rooms and assisting the visitors with their needs.
-Setup a number of user accounts and reactivated a number of old accounts. Setup
items for the SURF students. Working with Mike on getting computers setup for
the visitors we will be having this summer.
-Worked a number of issues concerning the server room.
 

Advanced LIGO Development (Shoemaker)

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