In order to achieve this, the Booster must operate above 7.5 Hz, and beam losses must be reduced by an order of magnitude. Although much has been accomplished in the last year, the Booster remains a matter of concern both for MiniBooNE and for the whole experimental program. The Laboratory will devote the needed resources to this problem during the next two years. The Committee would like to have an update on progress at the next PAC meeting in April 2000. The Committee concluded, after extended discussion of the proposal, that the emulsion method has not been shown to lead to a compelling experiment.
Construction is underway, with all of the excitement and effort that involves.
The studies of hard diffraction and rapidity gaps using the proposed detector would provide an interesting extension to the physics capabilities of the CDF detector and complement nicely the program of diffraction studies at D0. The Committee recommends that the beam shower counters and the forward pot detectors be installed before the start of Run II as proposed. The Committee notes that beam loss monitors would be needed in any case and concludes that installation of these detectors will have minimal impact on the baseline upgrade. However, due to the schedule slippage of the baseline detector, the Committee is concerned about adding additional scope to the experiment. I approval on the miniplug detectors until the June 2000 PAC meeting when the rate of progress on the baseline upgrade will be better understood.