Elementary Particle Physics: The Higgs and Beyond (2025)
Chapter: Front Matter
Consensus Study Report
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This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics under Contract DE-SC0021427.
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COMMITTEE ON ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS
MARIA SPIROPULU, California Institute of Technology, Co-Chair
MICHAEL S. TURNER (NAS), University of California, Los Angeles, Co-Chair
NIMA ARKANI-HAMED (NAS), Institute for Advanced Study
BARRY C. BARISH (NAS), California Institute of Technology
JOHN F. BEACOM, Ohio State University
PHILIP H. BUCKSBAUM (NAS), Stanford University
MARCELA CARENA, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
BONNIE T. FLEMING (NAS), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
FABIOLA GIANOTTI (NAS), CERN
DAVID J. GROSS (NAS), University of California, Santa Barbara
SALMAN HABIB, Argonne National Laboratory
YOUNG-KEE KIM (NAS), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/University of Chicago
PIERMARIA J. ODDONE (NAS), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (retired)
J. RITCHIE PATTERSON,1 Cornell University
FULVIA PILAT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
CHANDA PRESCOD-WEINSTEIN,2 University of New Hampshire
NATALIE ROE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
TIM M.P. TAIT, University of California, Irvine
Staff
TARINI KONCHADY, Associate Program Officer, Co-Study Director
DANIEL NAGASAWA, Program Officer, Co-Study Director
LINDA M. WALKER, Program Coordinator
DIONNA WISE, Program Coordinator
COLLEEN N. HARTMAN, Senior Board Director, Space Studies Board, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and Board on Physics and Astronomy (through May 15, 2025)
ARUL MOZHI, Associate Board Director (Acting Board Director from May 16, 2025)
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1 Resigned from the committee on October 28, 2024.
2 Resigned from the committee on April 5, 2024.
BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
JILL P. DAHLBURG, Naval Research Laboratory (retired), Chair
MEIGAN ARONSON, University of British Columbia
MIRIAM E. JOHN (NAE), Sandia National Laboratories
ANTHONY M. JOHNSON, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
YOUNG-KEE KIM (NAS), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory/University of Chicago
CHUNG-PEI MA (NAS), University of California, Berkeley
ANDREW J. MILLIS (NAS), Columbia University
DAVID H. REITZE, California Institute of Technology
EDWARD E. THOMAS, JR., Auburn University
ROBERT TYCKO (NAS), National Institutes of Health
RISA H. WECHSLER, Stanford University
AMIR YACOBY (NAS), Harvard University
Staff
COLLEEN N. HARTMAN, Senior Board Director, Space Studies Board, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and Board on Physics and Astronomy (through May 15, 2025)
ARUL MOZHI, Associate Director (Acting Board Director from May 16, 2025)
LINDA WALKER, Program Coordinator
CHRIS JONES, Senior Finance Business Partner
TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations
Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by MICHAEL DINE (NAS), University of California, Santa Cruz, and CHARLES V. SHANK (NAS), Howard Hughes Medical Institute. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
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Contents
Progress Since the 2006 National Research Council Report
The Science Driving the Strategy
Understanding the Higgs and Exploring the 10 TeV Frontier
Expanding Horizons of Discovery
Research and Development Investments
The Value of Particle Physics Training
Views of Early-Career Scientists
Improving the Working Environment
Preface
In 2006, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine were asked to set a long-term vision with near-term priorities for elementary particle physics. The report, Revealing the Hidden Nature of Space and Time: Charting the Course for Elementary Particle Physics,1 affirmed the scientific and broader importance of the field and the United States’ continued involvement at a leadership level. Key recommendations included a strong U.S. involvement in the Large Hadron Collider and the broadening of the field’s agenda to include important overlaps with cosmology came to pass.
The world of elementary particle physics has changed dramatically since 2006. The Higgs boson was discovered; the connections between particle physics and other scientific fields have become stronger and more important; and the field has become even more international with almost 100 countries engaging in particle physics research today. The agenda is richer; beyond unifying the fundamental particles and their interactions, particle physicists now seek to understand the origin of space, time, and the universe as well as the profound connections between them.
Future colliders based on innovative technologies, with new detectors powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning set to revolutionize particle physics by discovering new phenomena and conducting precision measurements that reveal new physics. Smaller experiments that cross disciplinary boundaries and bring in new approaches are poised to answer some of the big questions in particle physics. These are the changes that we can see; in this time of rapid progress and change, many more advances than we cannot even imagine are likely to occur.
The Committee on Elementary Particle Physics was tasked by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation with setting a long-term vision for the field, focusing on innovation and new approaches, as described in the statement of task reprinted in Appendix A. In interpreting the statement of task, the committee focused on a vision for the next 40 years. Decisions and discoveries made over the intervening years will determine the course of the field and beyond.
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1 National Research Council, 2006, Revealing the Hidden Nature of Space and Time: Charting the Course for Elementary Particle Physics, The National Academies Press, https://doi.org/10.17226/11641.
The committee engaged directly with the community and considered the near-term plans embodied in the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel and Snowmass 2021 reports.2,3,4 In order to take the long view in this time of great opportunity and change, the committee also heard from more than 75 experts from around the globe, including many from outside the field of particle physics.
This report puts forth a compelling long-term vision for U.S. particle physics, befitting its importance and future potential. The committee presents and discusses eight recommendations that will make this vision a reality.
In closing, we wish to thank all of the experts and the particle physics community for their crucial input.5 We are especially grateful to the National Academies’ staff who supported our effort over the past 30 months and 32 committee meetings.
Maria Spiropulu and Michael S. Turner, Co-Chairs
Committee on Elementary Particle Physics
June 2025
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2 Around the time the committee was formed, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation also convened the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel to set a near-term plan for the field, informed by the 2021 U.S. Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics.
3 S. Asai, A. Ballarino, T. Bose, et al., 2024, “Pathways to Innovation and Discovery in Particle Physics: Report of the 2023 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel,” https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.19176.
4 J.N. Butler, R.S. Chivukhala, A. de Gouvêa, et al., 2023, “Report of the 2021 U.S. Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021) Summary Chapter,” https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2301.06581.
5 See Appendix D for a summary of information-gathering activities.
