Since the initial development of charged particle colliders in the middle of the 20th century, these advanced scientific instruments have been at the forefront of scientific discoveries in high-energy physics. Collider accelerator technology and beam physics have progressed immensely and modern facilities now operate at energies and luminosities many orders of magnitude greater than the pioneering colliders of the early 1960s. In addition, the field of colliders remains extremely dynamic and continues to develop many innovative approaches. Indeed, several novel concepts are currently being considered for designing and constructing even more powerful future colliders. The colliding-beam method and the history of colliders are first reviewed. Then, the major achievements of operational machines and the key features of near-term collider projects that are currently under development are presented. The review concludes with an analysis of numerous proposals and studies for distant-future colliders. The evaluation of their respective potentials reveals promising prospects for further significant breakthroughs in the collider field.

• Received 19 September 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.93.015006