Support for UkraineThe Future Circular Collider (FCC) is an ambitious project for a proposed particle accelerator at CERN that could succeed the LHC. The project is planned as a multi-phase programme.
The first phase is the FCC-ee, an electron-positron accelerator designed for extremely precise measurements of the properties of Standard Model particles, primarily the Higgs boson and Z and W particles.
Even a very small deviation from the expected results could indicate new physics. The next phase would be the FCC-hh: a proton-proton accelerator with an energy several times higher than the LHC. This would enable the direct search for new heavy particles.
A schematic map showing a possible location for the Future Circular Collider (Image: CERN)
The FCC-ee will offer unique opportunities in flavour physics, particularly in the study of rare B-meson decays and tau-lepton physics. Another significant advantage is the potential for the direct detection of light, weakly interacting particles that lie outside the Standard Model, such as dark matter candidates.
Our group is involved in this project by developing a new type of electromagnetic calorimeter based on liquid argon. This calorimeter features an innovative design with flat readout plates that allow for very fine segmentation. This enables advanced reconstruction methods, including machine learning, to be used for the detailed recognition and classification of particle showers.
We are currently preparing a prototype detector and conducting physical studies focused on scenarios beyond the Standard Model in parallel. One such scenario involves axion-like particles, which are potential candidates for dark matter and could be detected in our calorimeter thanks to its high resolution.
Contacts:
Publications:
[1] FCC Collaboration, Future Circular Collider Feasibility Study Report Volume 1: Physics and Experiments, https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.00272
[2] FCC Collaboration, CERN Yellow report: Vol. 2 (2022): Conceptual design of an experiment at the FCC-hh, a future 100 TeV hadron collider, CERN-2022-002.
[3] FCC Collaboration, FCC-hh: The Hadron Collider : Future Circular Collider Conceptual Design Report, Volume 3, Eur.Phys.J.ST 228 (2019) 4, 755-1107