[Paper Review] CERN Yellow Reports: Monographs, Vol 3 (2017): Physics at the FCC-hh, a 100 TeV pp collider

Michelangelo L. Mangano|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 22, 2017

Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies51 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents the physics potential of a 100 TeV proton-proton collider (FCC-hh), proposed as a next-generation facility at CERN to explore new physics beyond the Standard Model. It evaluates the discovery reach for new particles and precision measurements, demonstrating that FCC-hh could probe new physics up to scales of several TeV with high sensitivity, significantly extending the reach of the LHC.

ABSTRACT

A 100 TeV pp collider is under consideration, by the high-energy physics community, as an important step for the future development of our field, following the completion of the LHC and High-luminosity LHC physics programmes. In particular, CERN is considering 100 TeV pp collisions as the key target of a Future Circular Collider facility, built around a 100 km tunnel and designed to deliver pp, e+e- and ep collisions, in addition to a programme with heavy ion beams and with the injector complex. CERN is coordinating an international study tasked with the completion, by the end of 2018, of a Conceptual Design Report (CDR) for this facility. This document presents the first results of the assessment of the physics potential of the hadronic part of this research programme (FCC-hh).

Motivation & Objective

• To evaluate the physics reach of a 100 TeV proton-proton collider (FCC-hh) as a next-generation facility following the LHC.
• To assess the discovery potential for new physics, including heavy resonances and new interactions, at high-energy hadron collisions.
• To establish a foundation for the Conceptual Design Report (CDR) of the Future Circular Collider by analyzing the hadronic programme.
• To explore the sensitivity of FCC-hh to new physics scenarios such as new resonances, electroweak symmetry breaking, and flavor physics.

Proposed method

• The study uses theoretical and phenomenological simulations to model proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 100 TeV.
• It applies standard model predictions and effective field theory frameworks to assess sensitivity to new physics beyond the Standard Model.
• The analysis includes signal and background simulations for key physics channels such as top quark pair production and vector boson scattering.
• It evaluates luminosity requirements and detector performance to determine the feasibility of precision measurements at FCC-hh.
• The study leverages existing LHC data and extrapolates to FCC-hh conditions to estimate discovery potential.
• It considers the impact of high instantaneous and integrated luminosity on the sensitivity to rare processes and new resonances.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What is the discovery potential of FCC-hh for new heavy resonances beyond the Standard Model?
• RQ2 How does the high center-of-mass energy of 100 TeV enhance the sensitivity to new physics compared to the LHC?
• RQ3 What are the key physics channels that would benefit most from the increased energy and luminosity of FCC-hh?
• RQ4 To what extent can FCC-hh improve precision measurements of electroweak parameters and top quark properties?
• RQ5 How do the expected signal rates and backgrounds compare to those at the LHC, and what are the implications for discovery reach?

Key findings

• FCC-hh has the potential to probe new physics at energy scales up to several TeV, significantly extending the reach of the LHC.
• The high luminosity of FCC-hh enables precise measurements of top quark properties and rare processes, such as top quark pair production and vector boson scattering.
• The facility can achieve high sensitivity to new resonances, including those decaying to final states with jets, leptons, and missing energy.
• The study demonstrates that FCC-hh can probe new physics scenarios such as composite Higgs models and models with extended Higgs sectors with high significance.
• The projected discovery reach for new physics is substantially greater than that of the LHC, particularly for heavy resonances and high-mass diboson final states.
• The analysis shows that FCC-hh can provide competitive precision on electroweak parameters, improving constraints on new physics contributions.