The experimental particle physics group at IISER-Pune is a member of the CMS collaboration. The CMS detector is one of the multipurpose experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva.

Research interests of the group are

Model-independent searches for new phenomena in lepton final states:
Several models of physics beyond the standard model (BSM) give rise to production of particles decaying to leptonic final states. Dedicated searches, that target specific models are a powerful way to look for BSM physics. Yet these dedicated searches might become too targeted at a particular model. Model-independent searches aim to search for any deviations in the data from standard model predictions, while making the least possible assumptions about the nature of BSM physics. They are a powerful tool to probe the data for signs from varied models of BSM physics. The results, when presented correctly, can be used to interprete results in the context of different models.

Searches for supersymmetric particles:
Supersymmetry is a proposed symmetry of the universe which posits the existence of superpartners for every particle (sparticles for short) - fermion superpartners for boson particles and vice versa. Different models of supersymmetry may have vastly different phenomenologies (based on sparticle mass spectrum, and/or the supersymmetry breaking mechanism for example). The rich phenomenology of supersymmetry models gives rise to a variety of final states with leptons and jets. We are interested in exclusive multilepton or multijet final states, and all the variety in between.

Searches in final states with non-prompt lepton production
Almost all searches for BSM physics in leptonic final states focus on the prompt production/decay of these leptons. However this assumption need not be borne out by nature. We are interested in extending searches in leptonic final states by considering these final states which arise from new particles with intermediate lifetimes (comparable to those of b-mesons).

Measurements of rare Standard Model processes:
Several standard model processes are rare enough that they have not been rigorously measured at the LHC. Some of these processes (For eg. ttZ production) are significant sources of background for BSM searches, or are interesting probes of couplings that we do not fully understand (For eg. many of Higgs couplings).

Some recent publications in which members of the group played a significant role:

"Inclusive nonresonant multilepton probes of new phenomena at √s= 13 TeV ". The CMS Collaboration, Phys. Rev. D 105, 112007 (2022)

"Search for physics beyond the standard model in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, JHEP 2020, 51 (2020)

"Search for vector-like leptons in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at √s= 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, Phys. Rev. D 100, 052003 (2019)

"Search for supersymmetry in events with a photon, jets, and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, Eur. Phys. J. C 79, 444 (2019)

"Performance of missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV using the CMS detector". The CMS Collaboration, JINST 14, P07004 (2019)

"Search for evidence of the type-III seesaw mechanism in multilepton final states in proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 221802 (2017) (A CERN article about this search.)

"Lepton jets and low-mass sterile neutrinos at hadron colliders". Sourabh Dube, Divya Gadkari, Arun Thalapillil, Phys. Rev. D96 (2017) 055031

"Search for supersymmetry in multijet events with missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, Phys. Rev. D96 (2017) 032003

"Search for supersymmetry in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in pp collisions at 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, Phys. Lett. B 758 (2016) 152

"Search for supersymmetry in events with jets and missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, CMS-PAS-SUS-16-014 (2016)

"Search for new phenomena in events with three or more charged leptons in pp collisions at √s =8 TeV with the ATLAS detector". The ATLAS Collaboration, JHEP 08 (2015) 138

"Search for new physics in the multijet and missing transverse momentum final state in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV". The CMS Collaboration, JHEP 06 (2014) 055