ECR future collider forum

Friday 4 Nov 2022, 09:30 → 18:00 Europe/London

West Hub, Cambridge

Andrew Stephen Chisholm (University of Birmingham (GB)), Cristiano Sebastiani (University of Liverpool (GB)), Matthew William Kenzie (University of Warwick (GB)), Michaela Queitsch-Maitland (University of Manchester (GB)), Sarah Louise Williams (University of Cambridge (GB))

09:30 → 10:00 Welcome coffee

10:00 → 10:15 Welcome/introduction

Convener: Sarah Louise Williams (University of Cambridge (GB))

10:00 Welcome

Speaker: Andy Parker (University of Cambridge (GB))

10:05 Introduction and practical details

Speaker: Sarah Louise Williams (University of Cambridge (GB))

Welcome-ECRforum-041122.pdf

10:15 → 11:00 Physics landscape

Convener: Matthew William Kenzie (University of Warwick (GB))

10:15 Overview of physics landscape

Speaker: Nicholas Wardle (Imperial College (GB))

PhysicsLandscape_Nwardle.pdf

10:30 Discussion Session

• We do not wish to discuss the details of current physics results.
• If there is no direct evidence of new physics at colliders in the coming years, where should we direct our efforts?
• What is the balance of the physics case for FCC-ee / eh / hh ?
• Addressing challenges in convincing the community to buy into the next colliders' physics programme.

From the last meeting:

• Surely we are not the generation to give up on this quest [understanding the fundamental properties of nature] because the next collider facility is challenging (echoed by Eliezer)
• Physics case should not rely on anomalous results but on measurements with a large impact we can be sure to deliver
• Getting behind a large project gives optimal chance of long term funding success
• Are we safe to work on the baseline assumption of FCCee -> hh?

11:00 → 11:45 Accelerator technologies and challenges

Convener: Michaela Queitsch-Maitland (University of Manchester (GB))

11:00 Overview of accelerator technologies and challenges

Speaker: Tessa Charles (University of Liverpool (GB))

ERC_forum_2022_Charles_v2.pdf

ERC_forum_2022_Charles_v2.pptx

11:15 Discussion Session

• We do not wish to discuss the details of the current technological problems.
• The physics drivers for a future hadron collider are documented by the US 'Snowmass' (in progress), the European Particle Physics Strategy, and recently by ECFA. Where do the UK ECRs fit (or where best to position itself to make progress) in these plans?
• How best to support more speculative R&D, which may be riskier in terms of immediate benefits but which, if successful, can bring significant and potentially groundbreaking results. Can you name some 'blue-sky' ideas that are currently being discussed?
• How much of an ECR's time should be devoted to studies and R&D for future initiatives?
• What are the interests of the (UK) ECR accelerator community (e.g. hadron/electron/muon collider, linear vs circular), and how well do those align with those of experimental physicists?

11:45 → 12:30 Detector technologies and challenges

Convener: Cristiano Sebastiani (University of Liverpool (GB))

11:45 Overview of detector technologies and challenges

Speaker: Daniel Hynds (University of Oxford (GB))

20221104_ecr_detectors_dhynds.pdf

12:00 Discussion Session

• We do not want to discuss details of current technology issues.
• How to attract and sustain the careers of R&D experts?
• Do current available infrastructures (test beams, large scale generic prototyping and irradiation) meet the needs of next generation experiments?
• Could collaboration between academic and industrial partners help increase R&D fundings in the UK? Should this be pursued?
• Timeline for when FCCee/hh baseline detector concepts to be finalised? Wait for feedback from HL-LHC detector upgrades might be too late?
• With the current personpower, how many detector concepts can be developed?

12:30 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 14:15 Theoretical perspectives and challenges

Convener: Andrew Stephen Chisholm (University of Birmingham (GB))

13:30 Challenges and opportunities in theoretical physics

Speaker: Tiann Tevong You (Imperial College Sci., Tech. & Med. (GB))

2022_11 - Cambridge - Theoretical challenges for future colliders.pdf

13:45 Discussion Session

• What will be the greatest challenge in the development of theoretical calculations, modelling, PDFs …?
• How to best foster collaborations between theorists and experimentalists for future collider studies? Where should the focus be put?
• What feedback is needed to tune the accelerator design and running mode to optimise the physics case?
• Is there any specific area that is currently un(der)covered?

14:15 → 15:00 Software+ computing: challenges and opportunities

Convener: Sarah Louise Williams (University of Cambridge (GB))

14:15 Software and computing challenges associated with future colliders

Speaker: Josh McFayden (University of Sussex)

2022-11-04_ECR_SandC_mcfayden.pdf

14:30 Discussion Session

• How to best recognise and value the effort of the developers community of state-of-the-art R&D-specific software packages, which must be maintained and continuously updated?
• What technology advances are critical to build the needed computing facilities to enable the FCCee programme? Are there any bottlenecks in the development of common tools and software infrastructure?
• What is the status of full simulation and reconstruction software? It is now a crucial aspect to build the physics case. Is it better to prioritise SW stability and robustness or early availability?
• How to best engage the young UK community?
• What is the plan for the exponential cost of computing hardware (and current foreseen chip procurement challenges)?
• Will ML play an important role in the core simulation and trigger software at FCC?

15:00 → 15:45 Breakout discussions: ECR views on future collider prospects

15:00 Suggested points for discussion

• From a technology readiness perspective, what is your impression on what extent could a detector for ILC, FCC-ee, FCC-hh could be build “tomorrow” if the accelerators were spontaneously delivered?
• If all existing “anomalies” (e.g. lepton universality in B decays, W mass, muon g-2) were resolved by measurements / theory developments, is there still a compelling case for a new collider beyond the HL-LHC?
  -Is there a case to skip a future lepton collider if a machine like FCC-hh could be built significantly earlier (e.g. by 20 years)?
• Do you agree with the current baseline strategy (2020 European Strategy document) i.e. focus should be a “e+e- Higgs factory”
• Is the vision for a ~100km accelerator environmentally responsible?
• Can a case for public funding of a new accelerator be made against a backdrop of the challenges brought by a war in europe, a cost of living / energy crisis and accelerating climate change?
• If the funding case for the LHC had to be made today, would it have been built?
  -Is there an optimal way for today’s ECRs to begin to invest some of their time to contribute to the realisation of a future collider, while making significant contributions to the LHC programme?
  Please select someone in your group to summarise your discussions when we come together after the coffee break

15:45 → 16:00 Coffee

16:00 → 16:30 Breakout discussions: ECR views on future collider prospects: Reports from breakout discussions

16:30 → 17:15 Panel discussion: Q+A about UK future collider landscape: Q+A

Conveners: Andrew Pilkington (University Of Manchester), Prof. Dave Newbold (STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (GB)), Guy Wilkinson (University of Oxford (GB)), Matthew David Needham (The University of Edinburgh (GB)), Michael Spannowsky (University of Durham (GB)), Monica D'Onofrio (University of Liverpool (GB)), Sinead Farrington (University of Edinburgh)

Panellist biographies

Slide link for question submission

17:15 → 17:30 Close-out

ECRforum_041122_report.pdf

Participant survey