2019 - All Press Releases

Springer Nature publishes study for CERN’s next generation circular collider

Conceptual design report outlines the designs for powerful particle colliders that can inaugurate the post Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – which discovered the Higgs boson in 2012 – era in high-energy physics.


London, 25th July 2019

Back in January, CERN released a conceptual report outlining preliminary designs for a Future Circular Collider (FCC), which if built, would have the potential to be the most powerful particle collider the world over. Earlier this month attendees of the 2019 FCC week in Brussels  got the first look at what this could look like with the release of the four volume FCC study conceptual design report (CDR).

In a special ceremony, on the first day of the conference, Christian Caron (Executive Editor for the European Physical Journal (EPJ) at Springer Nature) handed over the four volumes to Fabiola Gianotti (CERN’s Director General), Frédérick Bordry (CERN’s Director of Accelerators & Technologies) and Michael Benedikt (FCC study leader).

Commenting on the publication of this report Michael Benedikt, FCC study leader remarked:

“The FCC design report is the outcome of the common effort of more than 1350 contributors from 34 countries including academic and industrial partners. I would like to thank each and every participant for helping to develop a global vision and preparing the construction of this unique future accelerator facility, which will serve the worldwide high-energy physics community throughout the 21st century. Together, we will continue reviewing the experimental challenges and exploiting opportunities for technological breakthroughs towards the realization of these machines.”

Speaking after the ceremony, Christian Caron further commented:

‘‘The development of a new research facility for particle physics that could push the energy and precision/intensity frontiers and unearth some of the mysteries of nature is incredibly exciting. As one of the leading research publishers, the team here at Springer Nature are incredibly proud to have partnered with CERN on the publication and publicizing of landmark projects and achievements at the frontier of high-energy physics and instrumentation. We are looking forward to a close collaboration in the forthcoming years where preparatory work picks up further pace.”

The four volumes of the FCC CDR demonstrate the technical feasibility and identify the physics opportunities offered by the different collider options that lie at the core of the FCC study. Moreover, they point to key areas for future technological R&D (research and development) that would guarantee the efficient realization and operation of such a new research infrastructure for fundamental physics.  The combination of a high luminosity lepton collider (FCC-ee) as a first step, followed by an energy-frontier proton collider (FCC-hh) will offer unprecedented precision in studying nature at its most fundamental scales through a diverse physics programme spanning 70 years.

Last but not least, the design report also addresses the significant socio-economic impact through investment in such large-scale scientific tools; and how their international and innovative nature can prove vital motors for economic and societal development on a broader scale.

The FCC design report informs the ongoing update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics and helps shape a global vision for high-energy physics research beyond the LHC. Today, the FCC is a worldwide collaboration of more than 150 universities, research institutes and industrial partners actively dedicated to the future of high-performant particle colliders and pursuing R&D on innovative technologies that could boost the efficiency of future particle accelerators. The broad range of scientific and technological disciplines as well as the related cultural diversity that some 1350 contributors introduced into the FCC design report considerably strengthens the collaborative spirit and integrative approach of this project, allowing in particular for unique perspectives that accelerated the progress of the study.

The first volume covering the “Physics Opportunities” was published in EPJC while the three volumes on “The Lepton Machine - FCC-ee”, “The Hadron Machine - FCC-hh” and the “High-Energy LHC - HELHC” were published in EPJ Special Topics.

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