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Patricia McBride, head of the CMS Center, wrote this column.
The LHC and its experiments at CERN will be entering a long shutdown from mid-February to early 2015. The work on the accelerator complex scheduled for the shutdown will enable the LHC to reach its design energy of 14 TeV.
The shutdown will be a busy time for CMS scientists around the world, including the Fermilab CMS group. The collaboration will continue its analysis of the data collected in 2012. The CMS computers worldwide are expected to process analysis, simulation and commissioning tasks throughout the shutdown period.
We also plan to take advantage of the shutdown period to work on the CMS detector, one of the largest particle detectors at the LHC. The long shutdown provides an excellent opportunity to access the detector and to make improvements.
Preparations are already under way for the recording and analysis of data produced during the 14-TeV run. In 2015, at the end of the shutdown, we will re-commission the detector to prepare it for the record number of proton-proton collisions we expect to record.
Fermilab has been part of the team working to add two endcap muon chamber stations in the CMS detector hall. Fermilab had the responsibility of procuring and processing the copper panels for the cathode planes. The panels were cut and engraved at Fermilab before they were shipped to CERN. The chambers were assembled and tested at CERN and will be installed in the detector hall during the long shutdown.
Fermilab personnel are also part of the international team preparing to replace the photodetectors on the forward and outer sections of the CMS hadron calorimeter. Fermilab scientists and engineers have been studying and testing the new silicon photomultipliers for the outer part of the calorimeter and are preparing for the installation of the new photomultipliers for the forward calorimeter.
The Fermilab Pixel Group will focus on the construction and installation of a pilot pixel system during this long shutdown. This work is in preparation for the replacement of the pixel detector system during the next long shutdown.
Throughout the shutdown period, the CMS group will continue R&D and planning for future upgrades in anticipation of high-luminosity operations. The next long shutdown is planned for 2018.