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Page 4 MAMBALAM TIMESJuly 28 - August 3, 2012Mambalam resident involved in researchon ‘God particle’Rajivalochan Subramaniam(resident of 34/31, KripasankariStreet, West Mambalam)considered himself a failure ina US university before rediscoveringhimself in the field ofhigh energy physics. A Ph.Dwas once a distant dream forRajiv. It is the support of hisfather A. Subramanian, a retiredgovernment officer, andmother Latha and his grandparents,that enabled him topursue his dream in CERN,Geneva.After schooling in Sri SitaramVidyalaya (2001) and ShriAhobila Mutt Oriental School(2003) in West Mambalam,where he grew up on mathematics,he studied Electricaland Electronics Engineering inBannari Amman Institute ofTechnologyinSathyamangalam. His finalyearproject was funded by theTamil Nadu State Council forScience and Technology in2007.In August 2008, Rajiv joinedthe Electrical EngineeringMaster’s program in LouisianaTech University, USA, wherehe got partial scholarship.In the US, there is an optionto design one’s master’s curriculum,and Rajiv chose a combinationof research and academics.“A majority of Indianstudents in the universitychose the academics option asmost of them are interested ina job.Having made a tough decision,I struggled during my firstyear of MS,” he says. The openbook tests were more difficultthan the closed book ones andthe research work in electrodynamicsmade no sense tohim. After nine months he quitthat research, realizing he wasnot cut out for electrodynamics.This statement of Einsteincame to his mind then: Everybodyis a genius. But if youjudge a fish by its ability toclimb a tree, it will live its wholelife believing that it is stupid.“One year on American soilended in the Fall of 2009. All ofmy educational loan was spentand I was depleted financiallyand morally.My self-confidence was verylow during this time as I consideredmyself a failure,” recallsRajiv.It was during this hard periodthat he met his currentadviser/professor Dr. MarkusWobisch who is involved in highenergy physics. At that timehe did not know that his life wasgoing to change. Prof. Wobischwas working with the U.S.Fermi National Lab locatedin Chicago and Rajiv’s electri-cal background was good forhigh energy physics research.“Even for the very minor resultsthat I showed him, heencouraged me to such an extentthat I really gained confidencein life.”This moral support pushedhim to become a successfulPh.D student.Seeing his progress, the departmentchair, Dr. Lee Sawyerdecided to involve him inmankind’s biggest collaborativeexperiment, the LargeHadron Collider (LHC). Andthat is how he started workingat the ATLAS detector in theEuropean Center for NuclearResearch (CERN), Geneva,exactly two years before thediscovery of the Higgs bosonlikeparticle.In July 2010, he arrived atCERN. CERN is an undergroundlab which spans theFranco-Swiss border with acircumference of 27 km. andis 100 meters under the ground.At CERN, students, academiciansand scientists do collaborativework for commongoals. CERN tries to answerfundamental questions aboutthe universe.The Standard Model is a basicmodel in modern physics. Itlists and classifies all fundamentalparticles and forces,many of which were discoveredat CERN. There were manyparallel experiments at CERNand one of the main goals wasto search for the Higgs boson.The universe is filled with afield called the Higgs Field andthe particles of the field arecalled Higgs bosons.Assume that a swimmingpool is the universe and a HOmolecule is equivalent to aHiggs Boson. As you cannotsee water molecule in a swimmingpool you cannot see theHiggs boson in the HiggsField.About 48 years ago, PeterHiggs and a few other scientistspostulated this theory.The mathematics behind thetheory was so wonderful thatpeople started liking it .Whenmost scientists agreed on theidea and were able to convincegovernments, the Large HadronCollider (LHC) experimentcame to life in 1990.The Indian government hasspent USD 40 million for theexperiment and about 100 Indianshave played a substantialrole in the experiment.The total budget of theproject is $10 billion. It took 20years of hard work by over10,000 scientists around theworld to build these pyramidsof the 21st Century.Along with students fromIndia, other Indians studyingin the U.S. and universitiesaround the world also contributeto a great extent.“After years of hard work westarted taking data in 2010March. By the end of 2011,there was no success but wegot a few hints about the massof the particle. In 2012 March-June, we started seeing positiveresults,” says Rajiv whopersonally contributed by selectingthe interesting data tobe recorded for detailed study,called “trigger system” in scientificterms. Courtesy TheHindu.C M Y K
July 28 - August 3, 2012 MAMBALAM TIMESPage 5Relay fast for Jan Lokpal BillC M YKMembers of India AgainstCorruption led by Anna Hazareare on a relay fast since JulyRoughly, 10,000,00,00,00,00(Hundred million) school studentsthrow away 36,000,00,00,00,00 (3.6 billion) plastic gelor ball pens during an academicyear in India, contributing toplastic waste in the sub-continent.This struck the mind ofVasundha Mishra (Std. 10 studentof PSBB School, K. K.Nagar) who has come up witha practical solution that wonher the Changemakers ConferenceAward on July 23.Delivering her presentationat the conference, an eventorganized as part of TheBait’12, to showcase studentvisions for social change,Vasundha argued that promotingthe use of eco-friendly fountainor ink pens among thestudent community can reduceBy Our Staff ReporterMathaji (Founder, SanjeeviniPeetam, 16/45, BRP 1 st Street,West Mambalam) released abook, ‘Hanuman Global Friend’,on July 22 during the 27 thHanuman Chalisa competitionheld in T. Nagar.Certificates and 4 gm. silvercoins were presented to 27 winnersin all categories of thecompetition.Those who need a free copyof the book may contact K. S.Venu (Managing Trustee) in25 in Punniyakoti KalyanaMandam, Chakrapani StreetExtension, West Mambalamto press the organization’s demandfor tabling of its versionof the Jan Lokpal Bill during“Use fountain pens, not ball pens”,says school studentthe dependence on gel or ballpens.“It’s simple. The humble fountainpens are made of durablemetal, while the ink comes ineasily recyclable glass bottles,”she said. When it was pointedout that even ink pens are nowBook on Hanuman releasedphone 80152 98700 orHanuman (Secretary) inParliament’s monsoon session.Radhika Ganesh (Media Coordinator)told Mambalambeing made with plastic, shereplied, “The plastic in fountainpens is more durable whencompared to gel or ball pens,and can be used for three orfour years.”Vasundha said that she hadattempted to promote fountainpens among her classmatesand evoked good response.She said, “Thirtythreestudents in my class havestarted using only fountainpens during physics period.Moreover, I have also kickstarteda campaign on fountainpens with the children inour apartment in Arumbakkam.”According to her, a student,on an average, uses three plasticgel or ball pens every monthand if at least one third of thisis replaced with fountain pens,it will go a long way in reducingthe waste generated by plasticgel or ball pens. Schools canalso support this cause by installingink filling stations intheir premises, she suggested.Courtesy The New Indian Express90435 68941 or www.sanjeevinipeetam.comNew office-bearers for RamSamajBy Our Staff ReporterV. Balasubramanian waselected as the President of SriRam Samaj (Ayodhya Mandapam,Arya Gowda Road, T.Nagar) in the annual generalbody meeting on July 22.The following are the otheroffice-bearers: A. V. Raman(Vice-President), P. V. Balasubramaniam(Secretary), M.Venkatachari (Asst. Secretary)and N. Raghuraman(Treasurer).More details can be had inphones 2489 3077 and 23718286.‘Naaliyara DhivyaPrabandham’By Our Staff ReporterDeskian (resident of 8, 2 ndMain Road, East CIT Nagar)will conduct ‘Naaliyara DhivyaPrabandham’ from 7 p.m to 8p.m daily from Tuesday, Aug. 1onwards.All are welcome.More details can be had inphone 98843 38712.Times that more than 30 membersare participating daily inthe relay fast.By Our Staff ReporterJaigopal Garodia HinduVidyalaya Matriculation School(Postal Colony 4 th Street,West Mambalam) has orga-More details can be had inphones 72992 92999, 94454112000 or www.iacchennai.org.Blood donation camp tomorrowGayathri homamon ThursdayBy Our Staff ReporterThere will be Gayathrihomam during Gayathri japamfrom 6 a.m on Thursday, Aug.2 in Sankara Madam, WestMambalam. Poornahuthi willbe at 8.30 a.m.All are welcome.More details can be had fromM. Jayaraman in 9841722886.nized its 30 th blood donationcamp from 8.30 a.m to 12 noonon Sunday, July 29 in its premises.More details can be had inphone 2489 1713.
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