Silicon Detector Design Study Newsletter                                   December 2004                                                                                

Why a Newsletter?
     Because there's news! We want to keep the LC detector community up to date with what's happening in the SiD Design Study, encourage participation, and announce our future plans. This newsletter will attempt to do just that on a roughly monthly timescale.

Do you want to receive this newsletter? Participate in the SiD Design Study?
     We are taking the liberty of sending our first edition to many of you who may be interested.  If you want to get this newsletter in the future, please take a moment to sign up for the SiD Design Study and/or the SiD Newsletter on SiD webpage:  http://www-sid.slac.stanford.edu/. 

SiD Kick-Off Meetings.
     We have had formal kick-off meetings for the SiD Design Study at the Victoria ALCPG meeting in July, the Durham ECFA meeting in September, and the Taipei ACFA meeting in November. Transparencies from all the meetings are available on the website above, which provide some introduction to the starting point of the SiD design and some recent developments occasioned by the technology choice. A list of some of the Critical Questions we hope to answer in the course of the design are also given on the website.

Organizing Detector Sub-Groups.
     We propose to organize the Design Study around a set of detector sub-groups. They will take on responsibility for addressing critical design questions, doing the necessary simulations, reviewing possible technology choices for each subsystem, adding realism to the conceptual designs, and working with each other to address overall detector optimization.

     We foresee having sub-groups for calorimetry, vertexing and tracking, solenoid and flux return design, machine-detector interface (including luminosity, energy, and polarization measurements), muon ID/tail catcher, integrated physics performance, electronics, data acquisition, simulation, and overall integration and costs.

     We are pleased to report that Ray Frey and Jose Repond have agreed to lead the calorimetry sub-group. There are many questions to answer about the calorimeter design, so it is appropriate to get a fast start on these issues. We hope those of you interested in the calorimeter will work with Ray and Jose to push these studies ahead.

     Other sub-groups are under construction.

Weekly SiD Meetings.
     The SiD webpage announces weekly SiD meetings. So far, the SiD Tracking meeting is up and running, but we expect the SiD Calorimetry group to be meeting shortly, and other sub-system meetings to develop as the organization proceeds. The SiD tracking meeting is phone-in, with transparencies on the web before the meeting. Instructions for joining the meeting are given on the SiD webpage. Right now, the meeting time is convenient for European and American participation. We will be happy to adjust meeting times to include Asian participation.

Upcoming SiD Design Study Meetings
     The 2005 LCWS will be held at Stanford March 18-22. To take advantage of the presence of the international community attending the meeting, we will have a SiD Design Study Meeting just preceeding LCWS on Thursday, March 17, 2005. We'll use the meeting to solidify overall goals for the design study, develop an action plan and schedule, coordinate work between the working groups, establish plans in each of the working groups, and meet each other. So plan to arrive a day early for LCWS05, and include SiD in your travel plans.

     As you may know, the linear collider detector and machine communities will be meeting at Snowmass in mid-August 2005 for a two week workshop. The SiD Design Study will use this meeting as an opportunity for protracted discussions and real work (!) toward a Preliminary Design Study Report. Try to attend.

Questions, Concerns, Good Ideas?
     Let us hear from you.

     Harry Weerts ([log in to unmask]) and John Jaros ([log in to unmask])    
     SiD Design Study Coordinators