Linear Colliders - 
a straight new tool to investigate questions in fundamental physics

Dr. Ties Behnke, DESY and SLAC


Over the last decade phycisists from many disciplines have joined forces 
to develop a new tool to investigate some of the most fundamental questions 
in physics. This new tool is a high energy electron positron linear 
accelerator. Experiments in particle physics will be made by colliding 
the two beams head on. From the results of these collisions insights into 
physics at the scale of the electroweak symmetry breaking 
are expected - and thus promises to solve e.g. the mystery of the Higgs 
particle, which has been baffling physicists for the last 30 years. 

In addition to particle physics the extremely high quality beams from such a 
machine can also be used as the source of a high brilliance 
X-ray Free Electron laser. Such a facility allows numerous novel experiments
in areas as diverse as solid state physics, material science, biology etc. 

In this talk I will present the state of the different projects to build 
such a collider in the US, Japan and Europe. In particular I will discuss 
the TESLA collider, proposed to be build near Hamburg in Germany, Europe.