The International Linear Collider: A Global Project

Abstract

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is now under consideration as the next global project in particle physics. In this report, we review of all aspects of the ILC program: the physics motivation, the accelerator design, the run plan, the proposed detectors, the experimental measurements on the Higgs boson, the top quark, the couplings of the W and Z bosons, and searches for new particles. We review the important role that polarized beams play in the ILC program. The first stage of the ILC is planned to be a Higgs factory at 250 GeV in the centre of mass. Energy upgrades can naturally be implemented based on the concept of a linear collider. We discuss in detail the ILC program of Higgs boson measurements and the expected precision in the determination of Higgs couplings. We compare the ILC capabilities to those of the HL-LHC and to those of other proposed e+e- Higgs factories. We emphasize throughout that the readiness of the accelerator and the estimates of ILC performance are based on detailed simulations backed by extensive RandD and, for the accelerator technology, operational experience.

Comments: 104 pages, 88 figures; v2: minor typo corrections; v3: many minor changes, including small corrections to the Tables and Figures in Section 11