The science case for an intermediate energy advanced and novel accelerator linear collider facility
It is widely accepted that the next lepton collider beyond a Higgs factory would require center-of-mass energy of the order of up to 15 TeV. Since, given reasonable space and cost restrictions, conventional accelerator technology reaches its limits near this energy, high-gradient advanced acceleration concepts are attractive. Advanced and novel accelerators (ANAs) are leading candidates due to their ability to produce acceleration gradients on the order of 1–100 GV/m, leading to compact acceleration facilities. However, intermediate energy facilities (IEF) are required to test the critical technology elements on the way towards multi-TeV-class colliders. Here a science case for a 20–100 GeV center-of-mass energy ANA-based lepton collider that can be a candidate for an intermediate energy facility is presented. The IEF can provide numerous opportunities for high energy physics studies including precision Quantum Chromodynamics and Beyond the Standard Model physics measurements, investigation of charged particle interactions with extreme electromagnetic fields, and exploring muon and proton beam acceleration. Possible applications of this collider include the studies of γγ and electron beam-fixed target/beamdump collider designs. Thus, the goal of the proposed IEF is to both carry out particle physics measurements in the 20-100 GeV ranges as well as to serve as an ANA demonstrator facility.