Research papers are traditionally written about data gathered in an experiment. However, research papers are also published before an experiment has even begun, and the International Linear Collider is an example.
As the Global Design Effort for the proposed International Linear Collider starts to take shape, an international collaboration of scientists simultaneously works on an alternative linear collider technology that pushes physics and engineering to the edge.
The 1940s saw the origins of linear electron accelerators that directly led to the 2-mile-long accelerator at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. SLAC archivist Jean Deken presents a pictorial history of early linear accelerator development at Stanford University.
Photo: Diana Rogers, SLAC
Busloads of new Stanford graduates and their families admired the field of golden grass on SLAC's eastern-most hill on a sunny Saturday in May. But their stunned tour guides looked in dismay as they sought 50 bright red balloons.
The International Linear Collider is a proposed new electron-positron collider. Together with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, it would allow physicists to explore energy regions beyond the reach of today's accelerators.
Planning designing, and funding the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC), a 40-kilometer-long electron-positron collider costing billions of dollars, will require global participation and global organization.
A physicist who has devoted his career to developing linear colliders confronts the decision that changed the global physics community and the focus of his work.