The European Strategy for Particle Physics update (ESPPU) captures a coherent vision for the particle physics community towards an effective and efficient exploration of the most fundamental physical laws of nature. Scientific recommendations for the field provide concrete guidance with future research facilities and concerted efforts to extend our current knowledge. The depth with which we can address open mysteries about the universe strongly relies on our ability to innovate instrumentation and research infrastructures. The ESPPU calls upon ECFA to develop a global detector R&D roadmap that should be used to support proposals at the European and national levels. That roadmap aims to define the backbone of detector R&D required to deploy the community’s vision for both the near- and longer-term. The mandate is to focus on the technical aspects to realise the research facilities in a timely fashion, and to provide strategic guidance for detector development at large, in synergy with neighbouring fields and industrial applications.
A Detector R&D Roadmap Panel assists ECFA to develop and organize the process and to deliver the final roadmap document, supported by Task Forces organized by topic area. Together with its chair, Phil Allport, the functioning of the panel proceeds with Coordinators who assist in identifying the Task Force convenors. Together with Jorgen D’Hondt and Karl Jakobs (ECFA chairs respectively 2018-2020 and 2021-2023), Lenny Rivkin (LDG representative) and Susanne Kuehn (Scientific Secretary of the Panel) the Coordinators are Silvia Dalla Torre, Manfred Krammer, Felix Sefkow and Ian Shipsey. With the updated strategy as input, the mandate for the ECFA Detector R&D Roadmap Panel is to focus on the technical aspects to realise future research facilities in a timely fashion. In addition, to listing the targeted R&D projects required, the roadmap is to list the transformational R&D relevant to address the updated strategy.
The above suggests the development of a matrix, where detector technologies are connected to the EPPSU identified future science programmes, including an estimate of the lead-time over which the required detector R&D programmes may be expected to extend. This will consider the most optimistic, but realisable, scenarios for the timing of the possible new particle physics experiment facilities and exhibit technological development lines from near- to mid- and long-term applications.
The principal components of the technologies are captured in the definition of six technology-oriented Task Forces and three transversal Task Forces across all technologies and facilities. The six technology and three transversal Task Forces are:
- Gaseous Detectors
- Liquid Detectors
- Solid State Detectors
- Photon Detectors and PID
- Quantum and Emerging Technologies
- Calorimetry
- Electronics and On-detector Processing
- Integration
- Training
Each Task Force has two Convenors who join the Detector R&D Roadmap Panel, and who are assisted by about four further expert members in their Task Force. In each Task Force, the objective will be to develop a R&D requirements roadmap, by starting from the driving physics motivations for the developments, identifying key capabilities not currently achievable, and by analysing the R&D development directions and strategies, including the constructive dialogue between generic and project-oriented R&D.
With a view on R&D requirements, the targeted facilities emerging from the EPPSU can be grouped according to the following list. In addition, facilities and structures supporting detector development need to be evolved (item 9-11) :
- Detector requirements for full exploitation of the HL-LHC (R&D still needed for LS3 upgrades and for experiment upgrades beyond then) including studies of flavour physics and quark-gluon plasma (where the latter topic also interfaces with nuclear physics).
- R&D for long baseline neutrino physics detectors (including aspects targeting astro-particle physics measurements) and supporting experiments such as at those at the CERN Neutrino Platform.
- Technology developments needed for detectors at e+e- EW-Higgs-Top factories in all possible accelerator manifestations including instantaneous luminosities at 91.2 GeV of up to 5×1036 cm-2s-1.
- The long-term R&D programme for detectors at a future 100 TeV hadron collider with integrated luminosities targeted up to 30 ab-1 and 1000 pile-up for 25 ns BCO.
- Specific long-term detector technology R&D requirements of a muon collider operating at 10 TeV and with a luminosity of the order of 1035 cm–2 s–1.
- Detector developments for accelerator-based studies of rare processes, DM candidates and high precision measurements (including strong interaction physics) at both storage rings and fixed target facilities, interfacing also with atomic and nuclear physics.
- R&D for optimal exploitation of dedicated collider experiments studying the partonic structure of the proton and nuclei as well as interface areas with nuclear physics.
- The very broad detector R&D areas for non-accelerator-based experiments, including dark matter searches (including axion searches), reactor neutrino experiments and rare decay processes, also considering neutrino observatories and other interface areas with astro-particle physics.
- Facilities needed for detector evaluation, including test-beams and different types of irradiation sources, along with the advanced instrumentation required for these.
- Infrastructures facilitating detector developments, including technological workshops and laboratories, as well as tools for the development of software and electronics.
- Networking structures in order to ensure collaborative environments, to help in the education and training, for cross-fertilization between different technologically communities, and in view of relations with industry.
Task Force Convenors and expert members will each prepare the consultation with the particle physics community for their specific topic area. The focal point will be an open symposium for each Task Force where comprehensive presentations will inform the discussion. In a common drafting meeting of the Panel with all Task Forces, the main directions from the symposia will be summarised, cross-connections identified and the matrix of future facilities and major detector development streams sketched. The process will finally culminate in a roadmap document by around the summer of 2021.
In order to identify synergies and opportunities with adjacent research fields, it is important to remain connected to those fields while developing a Detector R&D Roadmap for particle physics. An Advisory Panel with other fields will establish this liaison. The role of the members of the Advisory Panel with other fields is to help establishing the communication between the conveners and experts in each Task Force and the experts in their respective fields. This will be facilitated with a list of expert contacts from within the Advisory Panel members research fields for each Task Forces, and to stimulate them to participate in the dialogues both towards and during the topic-specific symposia organized to consult with the community. The communication between the roadmap panel and national communities will be established with a list of expert contacts provided by RECFA members.
The proponents of major research facilities envisaged in the ESPPU will be invited to discuss with the Roadmap Panel, and to present the detector performance goals that need to be met and related required detector R&D in order to address the envisaged physics programmes.
The full mandate document including descriptions of each Task Force can be found on: Mandate Document
An overview talk of the roadmap process can be found on the webpage of the 107th Plenary ECFA meeting link to talk.
