The Evolution of Hall C into a High Q2 Hall

The role of Hall C at CEBAF is to support a broad and varied program of scientific initiatives that fall outside the programmatic capabilities of the Hall A and B facilities. The current experimental program include: high-q2 inclusive electron scattering, photodisintegration, and (e,ep) reactions; electroweak physics; hypernuclear physics; and high-luminosity out-of-plane (e,ep) measurements. To mount such a varied program requires a highly flexible set of instruments. The present complement of instruments available or planned for Hall C includes a High Momentum Spectrometer (HMS) that serves as a hadron spectrometer for high-q2 physics and as an electron spectrometer for inclusive scattering experiments plus a series of coincidence experiments utilizing ''second-arm'' spectrometers. To provide the necessary flexibility, the HMS has the capability of analyzing high-momentum particles (up to 7.4GeV/c), a large solid angle and momentum acceptance, and excellent trajectory reconstruction capability to the target; its momentum resolution is better than 10-3. These capabilities provide an excellent match to the approved research program that includes the extensive use of cryogenic and polarized targets. The ''second arm'' spectrometers for Hall C, each of which has been optimized for a different physics program, are constructed by various user-managed consortia. The first of these ''second-arm'' spectrometers was the Short Orbit Spectrometer (SOS). It is used in conjunction with the HMS for studies of the electroproduction of pions and kaons, and also for a variety of (e,ep) coincidence experiments aimed at the investigation of the energy and mass dependence of nucleon propagation in nuclei. The SOS will also be used in conjunction with a virtual photon tagging system for a first-generation hypernuclear spectroscopy system (HNSS). Later, the HNSS may be upgraded through the construction of a Kaon spectrometer having substantially higher resolution than the SOS, but with a lower maximum momentum capability and range. Additional, second-arms have included the t20 deuteron transport line and polarimeter, the currently running GEn neutron detector array, a second GEn experiment with a neutron detector array and spin precession magnets, and the stand alone superconducting G0 parity spectrometer