TIFR professor and spokesperson of India-CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid — one of the four detectors installed around the ring of the collider) experiment Atul Gurtu talks about the challenges ahead.
The world’s biggest experiment, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) set a record for high-energy collisions on Tuesday by crashing proton beams into each other at three times more force than ever before. The experiment attempts to decode the deepest mysteries of the universe and understand Big Bang, Higgs particle, and Dark Matter. In an interview with DNA, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) professor and spokesperson of India-CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid — one of the four detectors installed around the ring of the collider) experiment Atul Gurtu talks about the challenges ahead. TIFR is leading the CMS experiment.
With the LHC research programme getting underway, what are the challenges ahead?
Data has started coming in and its correct and timely analysis is, of course, the biggest task. The data will take sometime to build up and help scientists draw statistically significant conclusions. Another big challenge will be the ability to run the machine and the experiment so that it becomes a routine and a high-efficiency operation.
The experiment has been done using cosmic rays. After beams collided at 7 TeV on Tuesday, millions of interactions have been recorded. So, the task ahead will be to sustain the tempo for 18 to 24 months at a stretch.
Do you foresee any problems?
Manning and monitoring the detector continuously will be a challenge. Also, this is the first time in the history of any experiment that such an enormous amount of data will be produced at one place and sent to 50 centres across the globe. The transfer, use, and storage of the data by these centres will be done through a worldwide computing grid; it is essential that it functions properly.
What will be role of TIFR scientists and students at this stage of the experiment?
TIFR scientists and students in particular should be able to think out-of-the box and effectively analyse the data and discover new physics, if any.
Can you elaborate?
In an experiment of this magnitude, there is bound to be competition. We hope that TIFR scientists and students are smart enough to pick the right things and distinguish the old physics from the new.
As it will be 24X7 operation at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN-Geneva), our staff will be involved in manning the operation — controlling and monitoring the detector.
Two of our members are already at CERN. In April, two PhD students from TIFR will go there, along with a few other members of the staff. The students will remain at CERN for six months and the staff for about three to four months.
What kind of results are you expecting during the initial analysis?
Certain amount of physics has been discovered through earlier experiments. This will show up at this new higher energy as well, albeit in greater numbers. So, the first year will mostly go into verifying what you are expecting with results that we know.
We have to study it carefully; if it deviates from the expected results, it means there is something new. This experiment is
in a new energy range; naturally there is a possibility that
there could be some outstanding signal of dark matter or even some completely unexpected physics. It will take at least three months for preliminary results to come out.
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