Editing International Linear Collider (section)

{{short description|Proposed linear accelerator for subatomic particles}}
[[File:ILC SchemeTDR.jpg|thumb|400px|An overview graphic of the planned ILC based on the accelerator design of the Technical Design Report]]
The '''International Linear Collider''' ('''ILC''') is a proposed [[linear particle accelerator]].<ref>{{cite web
| title = The International Linear Collider – Gateway to the Quantum Universe
| url = http://www.linearcollider.org/cms/?pid=1000446
| date = 2007-10-18
| access-date = 2009-05-21
| publisher = ILC Community
| format = PDF
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090302085802/http://www.linearcollider.org/cms/?pid=1000446
| archive-date = 2009-03-02
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> It is planned to have a collision [[energy]] of 500&nbsp;[[Electronvolt|GeV]] initially, with the possibility for a later upgrade to 1000&nbsp;GeV (1&nbsp;TeV). Although early proposed locations for the ILC were Japan, Europe ([[CERN]]) and the USA ([[Fermilab]]),<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://physicsworld.com/blog/2012/02/where_should_the_international.html
| title = Where should the International Linear Collider be built? 
| author=Hamish Johnston 
| publisher = physicsworld.com
| access-date = 2012-08-02
}}</ref> the [[Kitakami, Iwate|Kitakami]] highland in the [[Iwate Prefecture|Iwate]] prefecture of northern Japan has been the focus of ILC design efforts since 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.linearcollider.org/ILC/What-is-the-ILC/Status-of-the-project|title=ILC - Status of the project|website=www.linearcollider.org|access-date=2016-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927001009/https://www.linearcollider.org/ILC/What-is-the-ILC/Status-of-the-project|archive-date=2016-09-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Japanese government is willing to contribute half of the costs, according to the coordinator of study for detectors at the ILC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uimp.es/blogs/prensa/2012/06/11/el-nuevo-acelerador-de-particulas-ilc-no-estara-finalizado-antes-de-2026-segun-francois-richard/|title=The new particle accelerator ILC will not be completed before 2026, says François Richard (Spanish)|date=2012-06-11|access-date=2012-08-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702171908/http://www.uimp.es/blogs/prensa/2012/06/11/el-nuevo-acelerador-de-particulas-ilc-no-estara-finalizado-antes-de-2026-segun-francois-richard/|archive-date=2012-07-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The ILC would collide [[electron]]s with [[positron]]s. It will be between 30&nbsp;km and 50&nbsp;km (19–31&nbsp;mi) long, more than 10 times as long as the 50 GeV [[Stanford Linear Accelerator]], the longest existing linear particle accelerator. The proposal is based on previous similar proposals from Europe, the U.S., and Japan.

In a staged approach, the ILC could initially be constructed at 250 GeV, for use as a [[Higgs factory]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=List |first1=Jenny |title=ILC: beyond the Higgs |url=https://cerncourier.com/a/ilc-beyond-the-higgs/ |access-date=26 April 2022 |publisher=The CERN Courier |date=28 January 2021}}</ref>  Such a design would be approximately 20&nbsp;km in length.

Studies for an alternative project, the [[Compact Linear Collider]] (CLIC) are also underway, which would operate at higher energies (up to 3 TeV) in a machine of length similar to the ILC. These two projects, CLIC and the ILC, have been unified under the [[Linear Collider Collaboration]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.linearcollider.org/|title=LCC - Linear Collider Collaboration|website=www.linearcollider.org|access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref>