Muon Colliders: A new direction in High Energy Physics

In particle physics, the 10 TeV scale has emerged as the next target in the exploration of the energy frontier. A collider with this center of mass energy is essential to unravel mysteries surrounding the Higgs mechanism, unambiguously discover or exclude long-favored dark matter scenarios, and search for new phenomena in completely new territory. A muon collider is the machine with a chance of reaching this scale in the next few decades and would represent a paradigm shift for the field. This project seizes a window of opportunity to drive informed decision-making in next-generation particle accelerator technology.

This effort aims to advance the experimental design of a muon collider experiment while also fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between accelerator physicists and collider experimentalists. By establishing a model for direct engagement between experimental particle physicists and accelerator experts, it will help strengthen the accelerator physics pipeline. Efforts will focus on addressing key challenges in muon collider experiment development, including improving beam-induced background simulations through alternative approaches and hardware acceleration, as well as developing AI-driven techniques for background rejection in collider experiments. Additionally, we will collaborate with accelerator physicists to tackle fundamental issues in muon production and cooling using advanced simulation methods. By integrating expertise in artificial intelligence, high-energy physics, and accelerator science, this initiative will lay the groundwork for transformative discoveries in particle physics and the next generation of collider technology.

Isobel Ojalvo is an assistant professor at Princeton University. She led the first observation of Higgs boson decays to τ leptons in a single experiment, and has advanced the CMS Level 1 Trigger System, essential for real-time data selection at the LHC, by spearheading the development of AI-driven anomaly detection algorithms. She has played a key role in strategic planning for the future of particle physics research through leadership of a Snowmass Summer Study working group and R&D for a proposed 10 TeV muon collider. Ojalvo is the LHC Physics Center (LPC) coordinator at Fermilab and deputy for the US CMS Operations program.

Karri DiPetrillo is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago. She specializes in developing new techniques to search for unconventional signatures of new physics and has led long-lived particle search programs on both ATLAS and CMS. DiPetrillo is at the forefront of building a new silicon pixel detector for the ATLAS experiment ahead of the High-Luminosity LHC and developing cutting-edge microelectronics with on-chip intelligence. She has played an integral role in global long-term planning for high energy physics, coordinating input and leading design efforts towards a 10 TeV muon collider. DiPetrillo received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her work at the Energy Frontier.

Tova Holmes is an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has run a broad program searching for novel signatures of supersymmetry and dark matter at the LHC. Holmes has a long record of building and commissioning trackers and tracking systems across both ATLAS and CMS, but her current focus is real-time tracking with FPGAs for CMS’s Level 1 Trigger at the High-Luminosity LHC. Looking further into the future, her team has worked on detector design and on-detector algorithms for background rejection at a muon collider, and Holmes is currently leading the formation of a US Muon Collider Collaboration. Holmes is the recipient of a Department of Energy Early Career Award and is a Cottrell Scholar and a Sloan Fellow.