Combined Operation and Staging Scenarios for the FCC-ee Lepton Collider

FCC-ee is a proposed high-energy electron positron circular collider that would initially occupy the 100-km FCC tunnel that will eventually house the 100 TeV FCC-hh hadron collider. The parameter range for the e⁺/e⁻ collider is large, operating at a cm energy from 90 GeV (Z-pole) to 350 GeV (t-tbar production) with the maximum beam current ranging from 1.5 A to 6 mA for each beam, corresponding to a synchrotron radiation power of 50 MW and a radiative energy loss varying from ~30 MeV/turn to ~7500 MeV/turn. This presents challenges for the rf system due to the varying rf voltage requirements and beam loading conditions. In this paper we present a possible gradual evolution of the FCC-ee complex by step-wise expansion, and possibly reconfiguration, of the superconducting RF system. The performance attainable at each step is discussed, along with the possible advantages and drawbacks.