Plasma wakefield linear colliders—opportunities and challenges

A linear electron-positron collider operating at TeV-scale energies will provide high precision measurements and allow, for example, precision studies of the Higgs boson as well as searches for physics beyond the standard model. A future linear collider should produce collisions at high energy, with high luminosity and with a good wall plug to beam power transfer efficiency. The luminosity per power consumed is a key metric that can be used to compare linear collider concepts. The plasma wakefield accelerator has demonstrated high-gradient, high-efficiency acceleration of an electron beam and is therefore a promising technology for a future linear collider. We will go through the opportunities of using plasma wakefield acceleration technology for a collider, as well as a few of the collider-specific challenges that must be addressed in order for a high-energy, high luminosity-per-power plasma wakefield collider to become a reality. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Directions in particle beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration’.