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A Design Study for a Muon Collider complex at 10+ TeV center of mass

Project description

Designing Europe’s next particle accelerator

The European Strategy for Particle Physics is exploring potential successors for the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. One promising proposal is a muon collider complex, which features sound performance and high energy efficiency. In this context, the EU-funded MuCol project aims to develop operational designs and assess the capabilities of a high-energy muon collider. Taking a holistic approach, it will produce a coherent description of a novel particle accelerator complex, addressing the facility’s design and its associated technologies, from muon generation to collision. The project will also deliver a detailed assessment of its scientific, industrial and societal return, cost scale and sustainability.

Objective

Two facility concepts have been considered as potential pathways to the future of particle physics at the energy frontier in Europe: FCC-hh, a 100 TeV circular hadron collider and CLIC, a 3 TeV linear lepton (i.e. electron-positron) collider.
The recent European Accelerator R&D Roadmap includes a novel option, a 10 or more TeV muon collider, which expands the lepton collider energy reach and promises compact dimensions, high efficiency and limited cost.
Muons are point-like particles, in contrast to hadrons; a 10 TeV muon collider would have a comparable physics case, for a number of physics processes, to a 100 TeV hadron collider.
The muon collider promises high benefit but also faces a significant risk, as it is the first of its kind and uses novel advanced technologies.
The MuCol design study will address the core challenges identified in the Roadmap, develop the concept and technologies and demonstrate:
• the physics case of the muon collider is sound and detector systems can yield sufficient resolution and rejection of backgrounds;
• no principle technological issues will prevent the achievement of a satisfactory performance of the accelerator or the detectors;
• the muon collider provides a highly sustainable energy frontier facility compared to other equivalent colliders; and
• exploiting synergies with other scientific and industrial R&D projects, can provide Europe a leading edge in discovery potential and development of associated technologies.
The final report will include a thorough assessment of benefits and risks of the accelerator and detector complex, including an evaluation of the scientific, industrial and societal return beyond high-energy physics, the cost scale and sustainability of the complex and the impact arising from an implementation on the CERN site. This will allow the next European Strategy for Particle Physics Update (ESPPU) process to make informed choices for the selection of the next large collider to be built in Europe.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-INFRA-2022-DEV-01

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Coordinator

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE
Net EU contribution
€ 210 000,00
Address
ESPLANADE DES PARTICULES 1 PARCELLE 11482 DE MEYRIN BATIMENT CADASTRAL 1046
1211 GENEVE 23
Switzerland
Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Genève
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 210 000,00

Participants (11)

Partners (20)