IIT-M becomes first full member of CMS

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, has become the first IIT to be made a full member of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) collaboration of CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), the European Organization for Nuclear Research, where physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe.

CERN is known for the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. The world-wide-web (www) was also invented at CERN. It is not only an international lab for fundamental research in experimental high energy physics but also provides a platform for innovation in technology through international collaboration. The two experiments that discovered Higgs boson are ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid).

IIT Madras’ admission as a full-member of CMS was made possible by a presentation made to the CMS Collaboration Board by Prafulla Kumar Behera of the Department of Physics at IIT Madras. He emphasised IIT Madras’ capabilities in experimental research, particularly in high-energy physics.

In addition to Behera, a second faculty member involved in this work is James Libby. Two graduate students have already joined the group to work on the CMS experiment. Although India has been part of the CMS experiment since its inception, IIT Madras is the only IIT invited to join the CMS experiment as a full member, according to the press release from IIT Madras.