It is generally believed that the LHC will discover new physics at the TeV scale that can shed light on the origin of electroweak symmetry breaking, and that could indicate new phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. It is also expected that in order to understand the physical origin of this new physics, a TeV scale lepton collider will be needed. The International Linear Collider (ILC) is the most well developed candidate for the next lepton collider. The current ILC R&D directed by the Global Design Effort (GDE), working under the International Linear Collider Steering Committee (ILCSC), will present a technical design report in 2012. The Linear Collider Steering Group of the Americas (LCSGA) was established to provide guidance to funding agencies in the U.S. and Canada, and to articulate the Americas' stance on linear colliders within the ILCSC. An important aspect of the LCSGA activities in the coming two years is establishing the goals and organization for linear collider work in the period between the end of GDE and ILCSC and the time when LHC results will be clear and can offer the opportunity to launch a linear collider project. In early 2011, the PI of this proposal became the chair of LCSGA. This award provides funds for a portion of the PI's salary and travel funds to cover the expected travel associated with LCSGA activities. The intellectual merit will reside in finding a mechanism by which the global community can come together within a framework that allows each nation participating in a linear collider to contribute effectively and derive the benefits of the research it enables. The broader impacts from this proposal will stem from the more fundamental understanding of the forces of nature that can be provided by the linear collider beyond that which can be obtained from existing experimental facilities. Technologies developed for it may be applicable to other fields in science and engineering. Finding the organizational mechanisms by which a linear collider could be realized will be critical.
The grant supported the travel and two weeks of summer salary for Paul Grannis to oversee activities related to the development of a new electron positron collider operating at an energy of 500 GeV. In 2013, the design team for this collider completed a technical design report for the accelerator systems, two experimental detectors to collect the collision data, and a value-based cost estimate. The four volumes of the report can be found at www.linearcollider.org/ILC/Publications/Technical-Design-Report; there is also a short summary written for the general reader. The report serves as a blueprint for starting the full scale engineering design and construction. Grannis served as the chair of the oversight body for linear collider activities in the Americas, and on the international oversight committee. A major activity during this grant period was the formation of a new organization to carry linear collider activities forward following the delivery of the design report and prior to the start of a formal project. The form of this new organization was proposed by Grannis on behalf of the Americas oversight group. During this period, Japan expressed interest in hosting the International Linear Collider in cooperation with foreign partners, and a part of the activity on this grant has been extensive interaction with US government officials to explain and advocate for US participation. The grant supported travel to biannual workshops in linear collider research, detector design and accelerator design both in the US and abroad, where consultation with collaborators around the globe took place.
