Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top.
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02153-w

Review

A linear collider vision for the future of particle physics

¹ Monash University, 3800, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
² University of Melbourne, 3010, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
³ Institute of High Energy Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1050, Vienna, Austria
⁴ Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
⁵ Centre for Cosmology, Particle Physics and Phenomenology (CP3), Université catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
⁶ Inter-University Institute for High Energies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
⁷ Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
⁸ Carleton University, K1S5B6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
⁹ Centre for High-Energy Physics, McGill University, H3A2T8, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
¹⁰ TRIUMF, Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, Canada
¹¹ Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
¹² Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
¹³ Rudjer Boskovic Institute, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
¹⁴ FZU - Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, 18200, Prague 8, Czechia
¹⁵ National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, 10143, Tallinn, Estonia
¹⁶ Helsinki Institute of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
¹⁷ Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, CNRS/IN2P3, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France
¹⁸ IP2I Institut de Physique des 2 Infinis CNRS/IN2P3, Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France
¹⁹ Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l’Univers, CEA Saclay, 91191, Gif sur Yvette, France
²⁰ Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 67000, Strasbourg, France
²¹ IJCLab, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, 91405, Orsay, France
²² Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS/IN2P3, 38026, Grenoble, France
²³ Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Hautes Energies (LPTHE), Sorbonne Université et CNRS, 75252, Paris, France
²⁴ Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR), École Polytechnique, 91128, Palaiseau, France
²⁵ DMLab, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, CNRS/IN2P3, Hamburg, Germany
²⁶ Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg and Zeuthen, Germany
²⁷ Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428, Jülich, Germany
²⁸ PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence and Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099, Mainz, Germany
²⁹ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
³⁰ Max Planck Institute for Physics, 85748, Garching, Germany
³¹ Physikalisches Institute, University of Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany
³² Technical University of Munich, Arcisstrasse 21, 80333, Munich, Germany
³³ Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany
³⁴ University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
³⁵ Universität Siegen, 57068, Siegen, Germany
³⁶ Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
³⁷ City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong
³⁸ Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal, India
³⁹ Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, 781039, Assam, India
⁴⁰ Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary University, 122505, Gurugram, Haryana, India
⁴¹ The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, CIT Campus, Tharamani, 600113, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
⁴² Tel Aviv University, 69978, Ramat Aviv, Israel
⁴³ INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, 00044, Frascati, Italy
⁴⁴ INFN Sezione di Milano, 20133, Milan, Italy
⁴⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10125, Torino, Italy
⁴⁶ Università di Milano-Bicocca, 20126, Milan, Italy
⁴⁷ KEK, Tsukuba, Japan
⁴⁸ Hiroshima University, 739-8530, Higashi, Hiroshima, Japan
⁴⁹ Hokkaido University, 060-0810, Sapporo, Japan
⁵⁰ Iwate Prefectural University, Takizawa-city, Iwate, Japan
⁵¹ Iwate University, 4-3-5 Ueda, 020-8551, Morioka, Iwate, Japan
⁵² Kindai University, 3-4-1 kowakae, 577-8502, Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan
⁵³ Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada-ku, 657-8501, Kobe, Japan
⁵⁴ Kogakuin University of Technology and Engineering, Shinjuku-ku, 163-8677, Tokyo, Japan
⁵⁵ Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, 819-0395, Fukuoka, Japan
⁵⁶ Miyagi Gakuin Women’s University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan
⁵⁷ Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
⁵⁸ Nippon Dental University, 951-8580, Chuo-ku, Niigata, Japan
⁵⁹ Osaka Metropolitan University, Department of Physics, 558-8585, Osaka, Japan
⁶⁰ Department of Physics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, 560-0043, Osaka, Japan
⁶¹ Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan
⁶² The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033, Tokyo, Japan
⁶³ Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, 980-8577, Sendai, Japan
⁶⁴ Tokyo Gakugei University, 184-8501, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
⁶⁵ University of Tsukuba, 305-8577, Tsukuba, Japan
⁶⁶ Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
⁶⁷ Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, 5020, Bergen, Norway
⁶⁸ Department of Physics, University of Oslo, 0316, Oslo, Norway
⁶⁹ Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5020, Bergen, Norway
⁷⁰ Dhofar University, Salalah, Oman
⁷¹ Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Krakow, 30-055, Kraków, Poland
⁷² Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
⁷³ Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, 31342, Krakow, Poland
⁷⁴ Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science, ul. Lojasiewicza 11, 30-348, Krakow, Poland
⁷⁵ Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
⁷⁶ Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
⁷⁷ Yonsei University, 03722, Seoul, South Korea
⁷⁸ Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
⁷⁹ IFIC, CSIC-Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
⁸⁰ Instituto de Física de Cantabria, IFCA, 39005, Santander, Spain
⁸¹ Instituto de Física Teórica, CSIC-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
⁸² Departamento de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad de Alcalá (UAH), 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
⁸³ Campus Universitario de Rabanales, Universidad de Cordoba, 14071, Cordoba, Spain
⁸⁴ Institut de Ciències del Cosmos, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
⁸⁵ Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
⁸⁶ European Spallation Source, 224 84, Lund, Sweden
⁸⁷ Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
⁸⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, 752 37, Uppsala, Sweden
⁸⁹ CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
⁹⁰ High Energy Physics Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
⁹¹ Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland
⁹² Département de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire (DPNC), Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
⁹³ Nikhef — National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Science Park 105, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
⁹⁴ Van Swinderen Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
⁹⁵ Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye
⁹⁶ Institute of Accelerator Technologies, Ankara University, Ankara, Türkiye
⁹⁷ Istanbul Beykent University, Istanbul, Türkiye
⁹⁸ Department of Physics, Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University, 14280, Bolu, Türkiye
⁹⁹ Department of Physics, Istanbul University, TR34134, Istanbul, Türkiye
¹⁰⁰ National Science Center ‘Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology’, 61108, Kharkiv, Ukraine
¹⁰¹ The Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2BW, London, UK
¹⁰² Lancaster University, LA1 4YW, Lancaster, UK
¹⁰³ STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, OX11 0QX, Chilton, Didcot, UK
¹⁰⁴ STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, WA4 4AD, Warrington, UK
¹⁰⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK
¹⁰⁶ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, G15 2TT, Birmingham, UK
¹⁰⁷ University of Bristol, BS8 1TL, Bristol, UK
¹⁰⁸ University of Durham, DH1 3DW, Durham, UK
¹⁰⁹ University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, Edinburgh, UK
¹¹⁰ University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, UK
¹¹¹ University of Liverpool, L69 3BX, Liverpool, UK
¹¹² University of Manchester, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
¹¹³ University of Oxford, OX1 3RH, Oxford, UK
¹¹⁴ University of Southampton, S017 1BJ, Southampton, UK
¹¹⁵ University of Sussex, BN1 9QH, Brighton, UK
¹¹⁶ University of Warwick, CV4 7AL, Coventry, UK
¹¹⁷ Department of Physics, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA
¹¹⁸ Argonne National Laboratory, 60439, Lemont, IL, USA
¹¹⁹ Baylor University, 76798, Waco, TX, USA
¹²⁰ Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, NY, USA
¹²¹ Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, USA
¹²² Duke University, 27708, Durham, NC, USA
¹²³ Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 60510, Batavia, IL, USA
¹²⁴ Department of Physics, Indiana University, 47405, Bloomington, IN, USA
¹²⁵ Jefferson Lab, 23606, Newport News, VA, USA
¹²⁶ Johns Hopkins University, 21218, Baltimore, MD, USA
¹²⁷ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
¹²⁸ Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
¹²⁹ Northern Illinois University, 60115, DeKalb, IL, USA
¹³⁰ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 37830, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
¹³¹ SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 94025, Menlo Park, CA, USA
¹³² Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
¹³³ The Florida State University, 32306, Tallahassee, FL, USA
¹³⁴ The University of Alabama, 35487, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
¹³⁵ University of California, 94720, Berkeley, CA, USA
¹³⁶ University of California, 95064, Santa Cruz, CA, USA
¹³⁷ University of Colorado Boulder, 80309, Boulder, CO, USA
¹³⁸ University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA
¹³⁹ University of Iowa, 52242, Iowa City, IA, USA
¹⁴⁰ University of Kansas, 66045, Lawrence, KS, USA
¹⁴¹ Physics Dept, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
¹⁴² University of Oklahoma, 73019, Norman, OK, USA
¹⁴³ University of Oregon, 97403, Eugene, OR, USA
¹⁴⁴ University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA
¹⁴⁵ University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
¹⁴⁶ University of Texas at Arlington, 76019, Arlington, TX, USA
¹⁴⁷ University of Wisconsin–Madison, 53706, Madison, WI, USA
¹⁴⁸ King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
¹⁴⁹ NSC KIPT National Science Center “Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology” of The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv, Ukraine
¹⁵⁰ University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
¹⁵¹ Institute for Theoretical Physics I, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
¹⁵² St. Joseph’s University, 560027, Bangalore, India
¹⁵³ Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal, India
¹⁵⁴ Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (NITEP), Osaka, Japan
¹⁵⁵ ICEPP, Tokyo, Japan
¹⁵⁶ Kavli IPMU, Kashiwa, Japan
¹⁵⁷ Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 85748, Garching, Germany
¹⁵⁸ Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg and Zeuthen, Germany
¹⁵⁹ CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
¹⁶⁰ Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA
¹⁶¹ Argonne National Laboratory, 60439, Lemont, IL, USA

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Received: 12 January 2026
Accepted: 17 January 2026
Published online: 2 March 2026

Abstract

In this paper we review the physics opportunities at linear ${\mathrm{e}}^{+}{\mathrm{e}}^{-}$ colliders with a special focus on high centre-of-mass energies and beam polarisation, take a fresh look at the various accelerator technologies available or under development and, for the first time, discuss how a facility first equipped with a technology that is mature today could be upgraded with technologies of tomorrow to reach much higher energies and/or luminosities. In addition, we discuss detectors, alternative collider modes, as well as opportunities for beyond-collider experiments and R&D facilities as part of a linear collider facility (LCF). The material of this paper supports all plans for ${\mathrm{e}}^{+}{\mathrm{e}}^{-}$ linear colliders and the additional opportunities they offer, independently of technology choice or proposed site, as well as R&D for advanced accelerator technologies. This joint perspective on the physics goals, early technologies and upgrade strategies has been developed by the LCVision team based on an initial discussion at LCWS2024 in Tokyo and a follow-up at the LCVision Community Event at CERN in January 2025. It heavily builds on decades of achievements of the global linear collider community, in particular in the context of CLIC and ILC.