The Standard Model of particle physics is still lacking an understanding of the generation and nature of neutrino masses. A favorite theoretical scenario (the see-saw mechanism) is that both Dirac and Majorana mass terms are present, leading to the e
xistence of heavy partners of the light neutrinos, presumably massive and nearly sterile. These heavy neutrinos can be searched for at high energy lepton colliders of very high luminosity, such as the Future electron-positron e+e- Circular Collider, FCC-ee (TLEP), presently studied within the Future Circular Collider design study at CERN, as a possible first step. A first look at sensitivities, both from neutrino counting and from direct search for heavy neutrino decay, are presented. The number of neutrinos should be measurable with a precision between 0.001 - 0.0004, while the direct search appears very promising due to the long lifetime of heavy neutrinos for small mixing angles. A sensitivity down to a heavy-light mixing of 10^{-12} is obtained, covering a large phase-space for heavy neutrino masses between 10 and 80 GeV/c2.
This paper is a summary report of the ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop Accelerators for a Higgs Factory: Linear vs. Circular (HF2012). It discusses four types of accelerators as possible candidates for a Higgs factory: linear e+e- colliders, circular e+e-
colliders, muon collider and photon colliders. The comparison includes: physics reach, performance (energy and luminosity), upgrade potential, technology maturity and readiness, and technical challenges requiring further R&D.
A strong candidate for the Standard Model Scalar boson, H(126), has been discovered by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments. In order to study this fundamental particle with unprecedented precision, and to perform precision tests of the closur
e of the Standard Model, we investigate the possibilities offered by An e+e- storage ring collider. We use a design inspired by the B-factories, taking into account the performance achieved at LEP2, and imposing a synchrotron radiation power limit of 100 MW. At the most relevant centre-of-mass energy of 240 GeV, near-constant luminosities of 10^34 cm^{-2}s^{-1} are possible in up to four collision points for a ring of 27km circumference. The achievable luminosity increases with the bending radius, and for 80km circumference, a luminosity of 5 10^34 cm^{-2}s^{-1} in four collision points appears feasible. Beamstrahlung becomes relevant at these high luminosities, leading to a design requirement of large momentum acceptance both in the accelerating system and in the optics. The larger machine could reach the top quark threshold, would yield luminosities per interaction point of 10^36 cm^{-2}s^{-1} at the Z pole (91 GeV) and 2 10^35 cm^{-2}s^{-1} at the W pair production threshold (80 GeV per beam). The energy spread is reduced in the larger ring with respect to what is was at LEP, giving confidence that beam polarization for energy calibration purposes should be available up to the W pair threshold. The capabilities in term of physics performance are outlined.
We consider the possibility of a 120x120 GeV e+e- ring collider in the LHC tunnel. A luminosity of 10^34/cm2/s can be obtained with a luminosity life time of a few minutes. A high operation efficiency would require two machines: a low emittance colli
der storage ring and a separate accelerator injecting electrons and positrons into the storage ring to top up the beams every few minutes. A design inspired from the high luminosity b-factory design and from the LHeC design report is presented. Statistics of over 10^4 HZ events per year per experiment can be contemplated for a Standard Higgs Boson mass of 115-130 GeV.
