The large Hadron electron collider as a bridge project for CERN
Abstract
Abstract The LHeC is the project for delivering electron-nucleon collisions at CERN using the HL-LHC beams. An Energy Recovery Linac in racetrack configuration will provide 50 GeV electrons to achieve centre-of-mass energies around 1 TeV/nucleon and instantaneous luminosities around 10^34 cm^-2 s^-1 . The LHeC program elaborated in the CDR of 2021 included a phase with concurrent operation of electron-hadron and hadron-hadron collisions, followed by a standalone phase of electron-hadron collisions only. In view of the current HL-LHC schedule, in this paper we have examined the possibilities of a program after the regular HL-LHC program with only electron-proton operation. In this operation mode, the LHeC would serve as an impactful bridge project between major colliders at CERN. The standalone physics program comprises electroweak, Higgs, top-quark, BSM and strong interaction physics. In addition, it empowers the physics analyses at the HL-LHC by retrofitting measurements and searches with significantly more precise knowledge of the proton structure and alpha-s. The accelerator technology deployed in the Energy Recovery Linac for the LHeC is a major stepping-stone for the performance, cost reduction and training for future colliders. The capital investments in the LHeC electron accelerator can be reused in a cost-efficient way as the injector for the FCC-ee. Finally, data from the LHeC are essential to enable the physics potential of any new high-energy hadron collider. The operational plan of 6 years easily fits in the period between two major colliders at CERN. Similar to the LHeC empowering the HL-LHC physics program, the FCC-eh would be an impactful addition to the FCC physics program.
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Authors: Fazila Ahmadova, K. D. J. André, N. Armesto, G. Azuelos, O Behnke, M. Boonekamp, Marco Bonvini, D. Britzger, O. Brüning, Tamara Alice Bud, A. M. Cooper-Sarkar, J. D’Hondt, M. D’Onofrio, Oliver Fischer, L. Forthomme, F. Giuli, Claire Gwenlan, Elie Hammou, Bernhard Holzer, Hamzeh Khanpour, U. Klein, P. Kostka, T. Lappi, Heikki Mäntysaari, B Mellado, P. R. Newman, Fred Olness, James Osborne, Y. Papaphilippou, Hannu Paukkunen, K. Piotrzkowski, Alessandro Polini, Juan Rojo, M Schott, S. Schumann, Christian Schwanenberger, Anna Maria Stasto, A. Stocchi, Simone Tentori, Mirja Tevio, C. Wang, Katarzyna Wichmann, Y. Yamazaki
Institutions: Université de Montréal, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of Liverpool, University of Oxford, University of Göttingen, University of the Witwatersrand, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, University of Cambridge, University of Bonn, University of Jyväskylä, UCLouvain, AGH University of Krakow, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, University of Birmingham, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Pennsylvania State University, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, University of Rome Tor Vergata, European Organization for Nuclear Research, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Kobe University, Southern Methodist University, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna, Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, CEA Paris-Saclay - Etablissement de Saclay