After almost three years of talking to faces on a screen, what a pleasure it was for Fermilab group members to reconvene at CERN this December to celebrate CMS’ 30th birthday!
The CMS collaboration recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Photo: CMS Collaboration
On Oct. 1, 1992, the official letter of intent was signed and submitted, and the CMS experiment was born. To mark the 30-year anniversary of this occasion, this December’s CMS Week was marked by plenary talks to a wonderfully full auditorium, coffee conversations in a bustling Building 40, and a special symposium in CERN’s main auditorium.
Patricia McBride, CMS spokesperson and Fermilab distinguished scientist, welcomed all to the event, where we heard intriguing tales of CMS’ long history, from conception to construction.
The CMS Collaboration convened at CERN after nearly three years of working remotely. From left to right: Wolfgang Adam, CMS deputy spokesperson; Patricia McBride, CMS spokesperson; and Lucia Silvestris, CMS deputy spokesperson. Photo: CMS Collaboration
The first two LHC runs have been a tremendous success, with the CMS Collaboration achieving far more than we anticipated. The 10th anniversary celebration of the Higgs boson discovery earlier this year highlighted just one part of these remarkable achievements: the observation of Higgs decays to b-quark pairs and tau-lepton pairs; evidence for Higgs decaying to di-muon pairs; and advancements at all stages in the data analysis chain that are allowing us to close in on Higgs decays to di-charm and di-Higgs production far sooner than expected.
A special symposium took place in CERN’s main auditorium during CMS Week. Photo: CMS Collaboration
There were also great talks that featured the evolution of the technological sides of the experiment, focusing on the future of the detector with the HL-LHC upgrade, and looking forward to our expectations for CMS physics in the coming two decades.
The 30th anniversary proceedings concluded with a social event at CERN’s Building 40. Photo: CMS Collaboration
The 30th anniversary event concluded with a social get-together in Building 40, where we had a chance to chat with old friends and meet new ones, sharing our memories in among colorful cakes and balloons, overseen by the life-size photo of our beautiful detector.
Claire Lee is an applications physicist in the CMS department, Particle Physics Division, and is stationed at CERN.
CMS department communications are coordinated by Fermilab scientist Pushpa Bhat.