About the Meeting

This workshop seeks to identify the next step in development and realization of the the ultra-compact XFEL, a rapidly maturing concept that has recently been solidified with a comprehensive design study (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/abb16c). A large consortium to push this concept has been assembled, and notable experimental and theoretical activity already initiated. In the workshop, we are looking to include participation by a wide range of stakeholders, from the proponents of the FEL, to the science users, and representatives of the agencies and foundations that have interest in these areas. The workshop goal reflects an emerging strategy - it is to find a path to build a full prototype instrument, both as a highly desirable compact light source and as a stepping stone to enabling large scale FELs and particle physics discovery machines. The path to using an advanced accelerator-enabled FEL as a meaningful bridge to a larger machine has gained currency in Europe, with the greenlighting this week of the EuPRAXIA project (see announcement here: https://www.esfri.eu/latest-esfri-news/new-ris-roadmap-2021). This bridging possibility as well as an expanded scientific user case and strategies for optimizing the consortium resources and responsibilities are key new components of the initiative that are to be explored at the workshop