Physics at the International Linear Collider

What Are We Doing Here?

The next big project in particle physics after the LHC is supposed to be the International Linear Collider (ILC) (see Figure 1). This machine is a linear electron positron collider which will reach energies up to 1 TeV and will run a scientific programme which is complementary to the one of the LHC. Currently, this project is in its planning phase and much development work is being done all over the world.
Besides the work on the accelerator, this work includes research and development for four different detector concepts, which are in their planning status. These four concepts will later on be amalgated to two remaining ones. The FLC group at DESY is involved in the R&D work for the Large Detector Concept (LDC).

: Figure 1: A schematic layout of the International Linear Collider. This diagram reflects the recommendations of the Reference Design Report, a report published in February 2007 that provides the first detailed technical snapshot of the machine. (Credit ILC Global Design Effort)

The ILC Physics sub-group is concerned with optimizing the overall design of the detector and important beam parameters in view of the physics requirements. This involves both fast and detailed simulations of the ILD detector concept, using the GEANT4-based program Mokka, followed by a digitization and a reconstruction step performed within the Marlin framework, as well as analyses of different physics processes, where the group currently concentrates on Higgs, SUSY and Dark Matter events.

: Figure 2: A schematic view of the Large Detector Concept.