The most powerful new particle accelerator could be a muon collider

Particle accelerators have many practical applications, from fundamental discoveries such as the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to determining the structure of drugs and advanced materials, to the treatment of cancer. The LHC at CERN is the world's most powerful accelerator, but the main question is, what should be the next accelerator to replace the LHC at the highest possible energies once it ceases operation? A muon collider could be the answer. As the world's most powerful accelerator, it would help scientists understand the fundamental constituents of matter at energies not currently accessible by the LHC - and at a lower cost than other alternatives. In a breakthrough paper researchers describe how the main stumbling block for the realisation of a muon collider was overcome. For the first time, scientists working at the muon beam-line at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) ISIS Neutron and Muon Beam facility on the Harwell Campus in the UK, have observed ionization cooling. The international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration, who carried out the research, consists of many scientists from around the world, including a team from the University of Glasgow led by Professor Paul Soler, who is also the UK Principal Investigator on the project. The LHC accelerates protons, which are composite particles consisting of quarks and gluons, up to very high energies.