From ICFA:International committee looks toward a global future of particle physics discoveries

July 25, 2014

A global strategy for particle physics is taking shape, one world region at a time. Featuring colliders that smash particles at higher energies than ever before, and gigantic experiments to study the smallest components of matter, this future will lead to breakthrough discoveries at facilities around the globe.

The International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA), an international body that facilitates international collaboration in the construction and use of particle accelerators for high-energy physics, has issued a statement that endorses the strategic plans for the future of high-energy physics in Europe, Asia and the United States. In parallel with efforts to globally pursue the study of neutrinos, ICFA has stated its continuing support of the International Linear Collider (ILC) and its encouragement of international studies of future circular colliders.

The statement was issued at the first meeting of ICFA after the publication of the roadmap for the future of US particle physics, called "P5". Previously published Asian and European strategies share common priorities. These strategies, the result of processes that involved each region's particle physics communities, provide guidelines for governments to make decisions in science policy.

"It is great to see so much congruency in all three regions and among all major particle physics players in the world," said Nigel Lockyer, Director of Fermilab and current chair of ICFA. "Particle physics has produced major discoveries that have attracted the attention of people around the globe, and the next steps will be even more global as we explore mysterious neutrinos, more powerful accelerators, and the cosmic frontier. The world's scientists are coming together to chart this exciting future."

The full text of the ICFA statement (issued 6 July 2014):

ICFA Statement on its Support of the ILC, its endorsement of the Strategic Plans of Europe, Asia and the United States, and its Encouragement of International Studies of Future Circular Colliders

ICFA endorses the particle physics strategic plans produced in Europe, Asia and the United States and the globally aligned priorities contained therein. Here, ICFA reaffirms its support of the ILC, which is in a mature state of technical development and offers unprecedented opportunities for precision studies of the newly discovered Higgs boson. In addition, ICFA continues to encourage international studies of circular colliders, with an ultimate goal of proton-proton collisions at energies much higher than those of the LHC.