Accelerators for Electroweak Physics and Higgs Boson Studies
We discuss the goals, the designs, the state of technical readiness, and the critical R&D needs of the accelerators that are currently under discussion as Higgs and electroweak factories. We also address the respective staging options enabling future energy-frontier colliders. The accelerators covered are based on many different techniques and approaches. They include several circular colliders, various linear colliders, colliders based on energy recovery linacs (ERLs), ERL-ring combinations, as well as gamma-gamma colliders. The linear colliders proposed consist of options for the International Linear Collider (ILC), for the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC), for the Cold Copper Collider (C^3), and for the more recent Higgs-Energy Lepton Collider (HELEN). ERLs are key components of the Recycling Linear e+e- Collider (ReLiC), of the Energy Recovery Linear Collider (ERLC), and of the Circular Energy Recovery Collider (CERC). Among the more conventional ring colliders, the following proposals are featured: the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee), the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), the Electron Positron Circular Collider at Fermilab (EPCCF), and the Large Electron Positron collider $\#$3 (LEP-3). In addition, we consider the X-ray FEL based gamma-gamma Collider Higgs Factory (XCC) and the High-Energy High-Luminosity gamma-gamma collider (HE&HL gamma-gamma). Finally, a Higgs factory based on a circular muon collider is mentioned for completeness.