Report on the Future Circular Collider Week 2016
The Future Circular Collider [FCC] Week 2016 took place in Rome (Italy) from 11 to 15 April 2016 and drew more than 450 participants from science and industry. The study was kicked off in 2014 as a response to a request of the European Strategy for Particle Physics and today embraces 74 institutes from 26 countries.
The FCC study joins resources worldwide to assess the merits of different future accelerator scenarios that will allow the extension of the present energy and intensity frontiers. The second annual meeting of this visionary study marked a milestone of the first exploratory study phase and showcased the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
The FCC study focuses on a circular hadron-hadron collider that can reach energies by a factor greater than the LHC for protons as well as scenarios for an electron collider (like formerly LEP) and a proton-electron collider scenario. The unique physics capabilities and discovery potentials were discussed during the second annual meeting – during which the report ‘Physics at 100 TeV” was presented. FCC working groups scanned the physics panorama both within and beyond the Standard Model and identified the main areas where new methods for theoretical calculations or experimental inputs are needed. The FCC collaborators have also performed detailed event simulations to help match and understand better requirements for future detectors. The work on the physics and experimental frontiers will be documented in a conceptual design report.
The consensus between scientists, engineers and industry is that significant advances in superconducting magnets, in SRF technologies, RF power sources and other key technologies are needed; these should be launched now to be ready for new machines by 2035 following the completion of the LHC and HL-LHC programme. The FCC study profits from the EuroCirCol EU Horizon 2020 project which targets the core aspects of the hadron collider design, such as the arc & IR optics and the feasibility studies of key technologies like a 16 T accelerator magnet, vacuum and cryogenics and civil engineering for hosting the large-scale infrastructures. The results of the study will reinforce Europe’s pole position in science and technology, throughout the 21st century.
During the FCC week the progress in all aspects of the study, from accelerator to detectors and experiments including the technological R&D developments and infrastructure were reviewed. New ideas, vigorous technological developments, perseverance, as well as worldwide collaboration are needed to realise these machines. Michael Benedikt, the FCC Study leader, concludes: “We must now focus on the established parameter set and use it as a basis for the optimisation work for the machines, detectors, and key technologies, required to realise such a large-scale research infrastructure.”
Finally, during the FCC week, a public event took place in Rome. The event entitled: “Macchine per Scoprire: Dal Bosone di Higgs alla Nuova Fisica” brought together scientists and experts in economics to discuss the latest discoveries in physics, the societal impacts of large-scale research infrastructures and the challenges lying ahead.
Participants in the FCC Week 2016 renewed their commitment. The FCC collaboration will continue working to examine the feasibility, available technological options and costs for future circular colliders and start preparing a conceptual design report, in time for the next update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics in 2019.
