Muon Muon Collider: Feasibility Study
A feasibility study is presented of a 2 + 2 TeV muon collider with a luminosity of L = 10{sup 35} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}. The resulting design is not optimized for performance, and certainly not for cost; however, it does suffice - we believe - to allow us to make a credible case, that a muon collider is a serious possibility for particle physics and, therefore, worthy of R and D support so that the reality of, and interest in, a muon collider can be better assayed. The goal of this support would be to completely assess the physics potential and to evaluate the cost and development of the necessary technology. The muon collider complex consists of components which first produce copious pions, then capture the pions and the resulting muons from their decay; this is followed by an ionization cooling channel to reduce the longitudinal and transverse emittance of the muon beam. The next stage is to accelerate the muons and, finally, inject them into a collider ring wich has a small beta function at the colliding point. This is the first attempt at a point design and it will require further study and optimization. Experimental work will be needed to verify the validity of diverse crucial elements in the design. Muons because of their large mass compared to an electron, do not produce significant synchrotron radiation. As a result there is negligible beamstrahlung and high energy collisions are not limited by this phenomena. In addition, muons can be accelerated in circular devices which will be considerably smaller than two full-energy linacs as required in an e{sup +} - e{sup -} collider. A hadron collider would require a CM energy 5 to 10 times higher than 4 TeV to have an equivalent energy reach. Since the accelerator size is limited by the strength of bending magnets, the hadron collider for the same physics reach would have to be much larger than the muon collider. In addition, muon collisions should be cleaner than hadron collisions. There are many detailed particle reactions which are open to a muon collider and the physics of such reactions - what one learns and the necessary luminosity to see interesting events - are described in detail. Most of the physics accesible to an e{sup +} - e{sup -} collider could be studied in a muon collider. In addition the production of Higgs bosons in the s-channel will allow the measurement of Higgs masses and total widths to high precision; likewise, t{bar t} and W{sup +}W{sup -} threshold studies would yield m{sub t} and m{sub w} to great accuracy. These reactions are at low center of mass energy (if the MSSM is correct) and the luminosity and {Delta}p/p of the beams required for these measurements is detailed in the Physics Chapter. On the other hand, at 2 + 2 TeV, a luminosity of L {approx} 10{sup 35} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1} is desirable for studies such as, the scattering of longitudinal W bosons or the production of heavy scalar particles. Not explored in this work, but worth noting, are the opportunities for muon-proton and muon-heavy ion collisions as well as the enormous richness of such a facility for fixed target physics provided by the intense beams of neutrinos, muons, pions, kaons, antiprotons and spallation neutrons. To see all the interesting physics described herein requires a careful study of the operation of a detector in the very large background. Three sources of background have been identified. The first is from any halo accompanying the muon beams in the collider ring. Very carefully prepared beams will have to be injected and maintained. The second is due to the fact that on average 35% of the muon energy appears in its decay electron. The energy of the electron subsequently is converted into EM showers either from the synchrotron radiation they emit in the collider magnetic field or from direct collision with the surrounding material. The decays that occur as the beams traverse the low beta insert are of particular concern for detector backgrounds. A third source of background is e{sup +} - e{sup -} pair creation from {mu}{sup +} - {mu}{sup -} interaction. Studies of how to shield the detector and reduce the background are addressed in the Detector Chapter. Polarization of the muons allows many very interesting measurements which are discussed in the Physics Chapter. Unlike the electron collider in which the electron beam is highly polarized and the positron beam unpolarized, both muon beams may be partially polarized. It is necessary to select forward moving muons from the pion's decay and thus reduce the available number of muons and hence the luminosity. The necessary machine technology needed to achieve such a collider is discussed in the Option Chapter; at the moment it is not part of our point design, although such capability would almost certainly be incorporated into an actual device.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1038036
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-R-988; TRN: US1201747
- Journal Information:
- eConf C960625:R4,1996, Conference: Prepared for 1996 DPF / DPB Summer Study on New Directions for High Energy Physics (Snowmass 96), Snowmass, Colorado, 25 Jun - 12 Jul 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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