Accelerators in the European Strategy for Particle Physics meeting in Cracow
Open Symposium on the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP2012). Image credit: CERN
The smooth operation of the LHC represents a huge success. The measures needed to raise the LHC collision energy up to 13-14 TeV by 2014 are at hand. Work is progressing on the technology for the LHC luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC) around 2020. Increasing further the collision energy up to 26-33 TeV in the LHC tunnel requires substantial R&D for 16-20 T magnets (HE-LHC). A new 80-km tunnel could allow reaching energies of 80-100 TeV in proton-proton collisions.
Great progress in the SRF development for the ILC makes the construction of a high-energy lepton collider possible. CLIC with two-beam technology could be an alternative if 3 TeV is needed but R&D is still required. A lower-energy CLIC based on klystrons is also proposed. A number of new ideas for circular or gamma-gamma colliders, to study a “Higgs” particle at 125 GeV have also emerged. Much higher energy using leptons requires muon colliders, dielectric RF structures or plasma acceleration, with increasing complexity. High-power proton linacs, such as ESS and IFMIF, are under construction. Neutrino beams will be improved worldwide.
Many R&D topics are common for various accelerators, e.g. high-field magnets, RF structures & RF power sources, particle sources, alignment & stabilization. The conference brought together experts from these areas, highlighting the need to promote further collaborations with other fields of science.
