SLHC-PP · Preparatory Phase of the Large Hadron Collider Upgrade

The Large Hadron Collider upgrade (SLHC) is the project with highest priority in “The European strategy for particle physics” document, unanimously approved by the CERN Council in July 2006. The SLHC, with expected 1 B€ budget, includes the upgrade of specific elements of the LHC accelerator, major upgrades in the accelerator injector complex, as well as upgrades to the two high-luminosity experiments ATLAS and CMS. It will result in a tenfold increase of the LHC luminosity. Thus the SLHC will remain the most powerful particle accelerator in the world in the next two decades. The Preparatory Phase project of the LHC-upgrade (SLHC-PP), co-funded by the EC, comprises Coordinating, Support and Technical activities. The Coordinating activities within SLHC-PP play a central role for the organisation of the new accelerator- and detector-upgrade collaborations, putting in place project structures and collaboration management tools, ultimately aiming for agreements on work-sharing and funding for the implementation phase. Support activities address upfront priority safety issues in the radiation protection domain. The Technical developments address the construction of prototypes of Nb-Ti high-field magnets with large aperture, the study of a new H- ion source, field stabilization in superconducting accelerating structures, and novel tracking detector power distribution. The SLHC-PP project runs in parallel with an extensive SLHC-oriented R&D program, funded by CERN together with important contributions from many CERN member and non-member states. In order to prepare for the SLHC project implementation as a whole, the coordination tasks within SLHC-PP include the coordination of these developments carried out outside SLHC-PP. The main aim of SLHC-PP is to prepare the SLHC project for a decision on the approval of its implementation by 2011. Beside the justification of SLHC by the physics results and operational experience from the first years of LHC running, the necessary ingredients for the approval will include: the maturity of new technologies required for SLHC, solutions for critical safety issues, and the formation of collaborations for the implementation, including the definition of work sharing and financial commitments. The SLHC-PP project is fully set up to address these issues and to prepare for the approval by the CERN council and by all other funding agencies involved.