Preface
It was our pleasure to host the 15th International Spin Physics Symposium.
Brookhaven National Laboratory did the same twenty years ago when we were in the
planning stages of polarized proton acceleration in the AGS, which would then
constitute the highest energy reached in polarized proton acceleration. In the two
decades since, BNL is sporting yet another advance in the domain of spin physics. The
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), equipped with the appropriate hardware of
Siberian Snakes and polarimeters, thanks to the generous contribution from RIKEN,
Japan, has demonstrated its capability to accelerate and collide polarized protons to
unprecedented energies of 200 GeV in the center of mass system. The full capability
of 500 GeV is slated for the near future. This promises to open new venues for
investigation of spin physics in hadronic interactions.
This is the 2nd Symposium in the new format that covers high energy and nuclear
physics phenomena. The first was SPIN 2000 in Osaka Japan. The program certainly
attests to this strong overlap between spin physics research in both fields.
With the help and acquiescence of the International Committee, the Local
Organizing Committee admits to some bias in choosing young speakers, where
possible, for the plenary presentations. We were quite lucky in that our choices proved
up to the task. This points to a promising and vibrant field of research.
The symposium was preceded with a one-day tutorial/workshop on spin physics
issues relating to theoretical, experimental, and acceleration techniques. The intent
was to introduce new entrants into the field as well as those who needed a refresher to
the terminology and concepts in preparation for the symposium. We are happy to note
that a crowd of about 60 people attended, and most stayed for the duration. We extend
our thanks to Werner Vogelsang who organized the day's activities. We hope this
becomes a feature of future spin physics symposia.
This symposium will break new grounds in that the proceedings will be published
in both the traditional book form as well as a searchable compact disk format possibly
paving the way to electronic publishing.
Unlike recent symposia, we chose not to have poster sessions. Instead, all
contributions were assigned into parallel sessions. While this complicated our task, it
provided a better chance for all to be seen and heard. In addition, the parallel
sessions' organizers were encouraged to include longer overviews and introductory
talks. As such these sessions were run in the spirit of mini workshops to encourage
better dialog. The proceedings are arranged to include the plenary talks followed by
the parallel sessions presentations in the order they were delivered in the symposium.
One plenary session was dedicated to our colleague Vladimir L. Solovianov who
passed away this past year.
As this volume was being prepared for publication, we learnt of the untimely death
of Vernon Hughes. Professor Hughes was a pioneer, a leader and a visionary in the
field of spin physics research. He will be dearly missed.
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Unfortunately, and due to the prevailing political and security climate, some of our
colleagues could not make it to the Symposium due to visa problems. The Local
Organizing Committee Chair requested and was granted approval from the
International Committee to extend an invitation to include in the proceedings those
contributions that were not presented. We are glad to see that this indeed was the case.
In keeping with the tradition, the proceedings also include those from the Polarized
Electron Sources and Polarimeters Workshop, PESP 2002, which was held at MITBates September 4-6, 2002 with M. Farkhondeh as the Chair.
We would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the agencies whose support
was instrumental to the success of this symposium. This includes the Department of
Energy, The National Science Foundation, the RIKEN BNL Research Center,
Brookhaven Science Associates, and the International Spin Committee. We are
indebted to Brookhaven National Laboratory for providing the facilities and
infrastructure and to the staff of Berkner Hall and Flik Dining Services for their
tremendous help and support, in particular Ruth Comas and Pat Carollo. Appreciation
goes to Pat Yalden's artistic talent for the creative design of the Symposium logo.
Our thanks go to the Collider-Accelerator Department, the home of the Chair of the
International Committee and the Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for
providing the logistical support during the many months spent in preparation for the
symposium. We extend our special thanks to Mimi Luccio, Elaine Lowenstein, and
Nada Makdisi who looked after the Companion's program, Anna Petway who
designed the symposium pocket brochure and coordinated the excursion to the
Museum of Natural History and the Rose Center; Penny Lo Presti and Mei Bai for
putting together the Book of Abstracts, Melanie Covitz and Jesse Becker who expertly
handled all financial matters. The expert support from John Gould, Frank Donate,
Frank Nasse and Nick Franco who took care of the web design, registration and
computing support is worthy of note.
Finally, the symposium Chair wants to express gratitude and appreciation to Mary
Campbell assisted by Shannon Burke without whom this symposium would not have
been possible. They put in a heroic effort and spent untold hours leading to and during
the symposium.
Alfredo Luccio
Waldo MacKay
Yousef Makdisi
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