FPF@FCC: Neutrino, QCD, and BSM Physics Opportunities with Far-Forward Experiments at a 100 TeV Proton Collider

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of far-forward experiments at a 100 TeV FCC to significantly advance neutrino, QCD, and BSM physics, offering unprecedented detection capabilities and sensitivity to new physics models.

Contribution

It provides a first quantitative analysis of far-forward experiments at FCC, highlighting their enhanced reach for neutrino detection, nucleon structure studies, and BSM particle searches compared to LHC.

Findings

Detection of up to 10^9 electron/muon neutrinos and 10^7 tau neutrinos.

Ability to measure neutrino charge radius and probe nuclear dynamics at very small x.

Potential to discover LLPs up to 50 GeV and quirks up to 10 TeV.

Abstract

Proton-proton collisions at energy-frontier facilities produce an intense flux of high-energy light particles, including neutrinos, in the forward direction. At the LHC, these particles are currently being studied with the far-forward experiments FASER/FASER$\nu$ and SND@LHC, while new dedicated experiments have been proposed in the context of a Forward Physics Facility (FPF) operating at the HL-LHC. Here we present a first quantitative exploration of the reach for neutrino, QCD, and BSM physics of far-forward experiments integrated within the proposed Future Circular Collider (FCC) project as part of its proton-proton collision program (FCC-hh) at $\sqrt{s} \simeq 100$ TeV. We find that $10^9$ electron/muon neutrinos and $10^7$ tau neutrinos could be detected, an increase of several orders of magnitude compared to (HL-)LHC yields. We study the impact of neutrino DIS measurements at the FPF@FCC to constrain the unpolarised and spin partonic structure of the nucleon and assess their sensitivity to nuclear dynamics down to $x \sim 10^{-9}$ with neutrinos produced in proton-lead collisions. We demonstrate that the FPF@FCC could measure the neutrino charge radius for $\nu_{e}$ and $\nu_\mu$ and reach down to five times the SM value for $\nu_\tau$. We fingerprint the BSM sensitivity of the FPF@FCC for a variety of models, including dark Higgs bosons, relaxion-type scenarios, quirks, and millicharged particles, finding that these experiments would be able to discover LLPs with masses as large as 50 GeV and couplings as small as $10^{-8}$, and quirks with masses up to 10 TeV. Our study highlights the remarkable opportunities made possible by integrating far-forward experiments into the FCC project, and it provides new motivation for the FPF at the HL-LHC as an essential precedent to optimize the forward physics experiments that will enable the FCC to achieve its full physics potential.