The International Linear Collider

The International Linear Collider (or the ILC) is a proposed 20 mile long accelerator for colliding electrons with positrons that will complement and extend the discovery potential of the the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a proton-proton collider located at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. With LHC discoveries pointing the way, the ILC—a true precision machine—will help decode the fundamental nature of the Universe. The figure shows an artist's conception of the ILC.

Consisting of two linear accelerators that face each other, the ILC will accelerate some 10 billion electrons and their antiparticles, positrons, toward each other at nearly the speed of light. Superconducting accelerator cavities, operating at temperatures near absolute zero, increase the particles energies until they collide at a highly focused interaction point nanometers in size (rougly one-ten thousandths the width of a human hair). The two beams collide 14,000 times every second at extremely high energies—500 billion-electron-volts (GeV). The superconducting technology being developed for the ILC is expected to have important applications in workforce development, science, industry, and medicine.

Each head-on collision creates a spectacular array of particles that could answer some of the most basic questions about the microscopic universe -- such as the nature of particle mass and particle interactions and the number of spatial dimensions. A state-of-the-art detector surrounding the collision region will offer physicsists a precise instrument with which to investigate these fundamental questions.

The World-Wide ILC Collaboration

ILC research and development (R&D) is truly international in scope and is carried out at institutions all around the world. The R&D is coordinated by the international Global Design Effort (or the GDE). The highly succesful collaborative, international activities culminated in a Reference Design Report (RDR) completed in early 2007. The next step entails more detailed design, to be developed in an Engineering Design Report (EDR).

The GDE functions under the auspices of the International Linear Collider Steering Committee (ILCSC), which was conceived by the International Committee on Future Accelerators (ICFA). Representatives from the Department of Energy and their couterparts from other nations have formed the Funding Agencies for Large Colliders group (or the FALC) that meets several times a year to provide oversight for the GDE. Both the ILCSC and FALC have formally accepted the RDR, and are working with the GDE to promote the Engineering Design Report.

Studies of physics and detector needs are coordinated by the World-Wide Study (WWS) group, also under the auspices of the ILCSC. The ILCSC-appointed Research Director coordinates these studies and will lead the development of letters of intent for detector proposals.

Research and Development U.S. ILC

R&D for ILC takes place in universities and Department of Energy laboratories across the nation. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is leading the effort, with signficant programs in development, assembly, and testing of accelerator cavities, as well as detector development. Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) is developing radio frequency equipment to power the accelerator structures, and is a leader in detector development. Cavity development also takes place at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, and Cornell University. These laboratories, as well as Brookhaven National Accelerator Laboratoy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Accelerator Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory are all involved in designing and developing aspects of convential facilities, sources for beam particles, damping rings, and modules for the linear accelerators.

Detector development is centered at universities with signficant effort provided at Fermilab, Argonne, and SLAC. The physics program imposes unprecendented requirements on the detector elements. Groundbreaking research in tracking, calorimetry, and particle identification is required to fully exploit the potential of the ILC. The accompanying multi-colored wire-frame figure shows a simulation of an electron-positron collision at the ILC.

Management of U.S. ILC R&D