Summary and outlook of the international workshop on aging phenomena in gaseous detectors (DESY, Hamburg, October 2001)

High-energy physics experiments are currently entering a new era that requires the operation of gaseous particle detectors at unprecedented high rates and integrated particle fluxes. Full functionality of such detectors over the lifetime of an experiment in a harsh radiation environment is of prime concern to the involved experimenters. New classes of gaseous detectors such as large-scale straw-type detectors, micropattern gas detectors, and related detector types with their own specific aging effects have evolved since the first workshop on wire chamber aging was held at LBL, Berkeley, in 1986. In light of these developments and as detector aging is a notoriously complex field, the goal of the International Workshop on Aging Phenomena in Gaseous Detectors was to provide a forum for interested experimentalists to review the progress in understanding of aging effects and to exchange recent experiences. A brief summary of the main results and experiences reported at the 2001 workshop is presented, with the goal of providing a systematic review of aging effects in state-of-the-art and future gaseous detectors.