Alessandro Frasca’s latest work has been selected as Editor’s Choice in Physical Review Accelerators and Beams – a recognition that highlights the significance of this contribution to the design of the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee).
The FCC-ee is one of the most ambitious projects in the history of particle physics. Planned as a successor to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, this 91-km ring accelerator will collide electrons and positrons at four interaction points. The paper summarises three years of PhD research carried out by Alessandro, member of the University of Liverpool’s QUASAR Group, based at CERN, in which he built a comprehensive FLUKA simulation model of the machine’s experimental insertions. This is a complex task sitting at the intersection of accelerator and radiation physics.
His study characterises the radiation environment across multiple operational modes, each featuring different beam energies and intensities, identifying the dominant sources in each region. Two extreme configurations are considered: collisions at the Z pole and at the top quark–antiquark (tt̄) threshold. The resulting model is a key tool for the next stages of FCC-ee development, supporting shielding design, technology choices, radiation protection, and detector studies.
Alessandro said: “I am honoured to take part in this ambitious, gigantic-scale project. The simulation model is an important input for the design of the FCC-ee. I am optimistic that this tool will support many studies, ranging from the design of the machine-detector interface to the optimization of beam-intercepting devices. This will enable the development of radiation-mitigation strategies that can ensure the machine’s reliable operation for decades to come.”
Further information:
Frasca et al., Radiation environment at FCC-ee experimental insertion regions, Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams (2026).