Meenakshi Narain Explained

Meenakshi Narain
Workplaces:Boston University
Brown University
Birth Date:9 May 1964
Birth Place:Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Death Date:[1]
Death Place:Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Field:Experimental physics
Thesis Title:Inclusive photon spectra from Υ decays
Thesis Url:https://worldcat.org/en/title/27652300
Thesis Year:1991
Doctoral Advisor:Juliet Lee-Franzini
Spouse:Ulrich Heintz

Meenakshi Narain (May 9, 1964 – January 1, 2023) was an Indian-born American experimental physicist. She was a Professor of Physics and Chair of the Department of Physics at Brown University, and was also Chair of the Collaboration Board of U.S. institutions in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration. She contributed to the discovery of the top quark in 1995 and Higgs Boson in 2012.[2]

Early life and education

Born on May 9, 1964,[1] in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, Narain identified as an Asian-Indian American. In high school, she had to transfer to another all-girls school to study on the math track that led her to physics and statistics as an undergraduate. She had to overcome the family expectation to choose physics over law.[3] She completed a B.Sc. at Gorakhpur University and a M.Sc. at IIT Kanpur. Narain earned her Ph.D. at Stony Brook University with her dissertation titled, Inclusive Photon Spectra from Upsilon States,[4] under the supervision of Juliet Lee-Franzini.[5]

Career

Following her doctorate, Narain was a visiting fellow at the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies, Cornell University, and then as a post-doc at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from 1991–1995, where she was also a Wilson Fellow.[6]

Narain was on the faculty of Boston University for eight years prior to joining the Brown University faculty in 2007,[7] [8] where she was promoted to full professor in 2010.[9] Her research activities have included the DØ experiment at Fermilab. She was instrumental in the discovery of the top quark in 1995.[10] [11]

Narain participated in the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and contributed to the discovery Higgs Boson in 2012.[12] She served as Chair of the Collaboration Board of U.S. institutions in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration from July 2018 to July 2022.[13] [14]

Narain was a frequent advocate for women in STEM fields,[15] [16] and she also promoted science to the general public, in events such as the WaterFire Big Bang Science Fair in Providence, Rhode Island.

Selected publications

Awards, honors

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Meenakshi Narain, 1964–2023 Physics Brown University . January 3, 2023 . www.brown.edu.
  2. Web site: 2023-03-01 . Meenakshi Narain 1964–2023 . 2023-03-16 . CERN Courier . en-GB.
  3. Web site: My Journey as a Physicist: Prof. Meenakshi Narain (She/Her): Season 2 Episode 7. Huey-Wen Lin. Bryan Stanley. April 8, 2023. My Journey as a Physicist Podcast.
  4. Book: Narain, Meenakshi . Inclusive Photon Spectra from Upsilon States . State University of New York, Stony Brook . 1991.
  5. Web site: Physics Tree - Meenakshi Narain. September 13, 2021. academictree.org.
  6. Web site: Fermilab For Physicists & Engineers Fellowships . July 21, 2022 . www.fnal.gov.
  7. Web site: May 25, 2018 . Meenakshi Narain: A Physicist Working With Particle Accelerators and Helping Discover the Higgs Boson . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20210913031754/https://indianewengland.com/2018/05/meenakshi-narain-a-physicist-working-with-particle-accelerators-and-helping-discover-the-higgs-boson/ . September 13, 2021 . September 13, 2021 . INDIA New England News . en . Presently, Ms. Narain is co-leading the effort to establish the vision for opportunities at the collider in year 2023 and beyond. Narain is engaged in research and development towards the construction of the innermost part of detector using silicon sensors. Her research also deals with the analysis of large data sets and provides an excellent training ground for students in data science..
  8. Web site: Kwon . Diana . Big Bang Science Fair at WaterFire Providence . September 13, 2021 . symmetry magazine . en . My vision is to make people appreciate science in the same way they appreciate art and music," Narain says. "If we can make people feel that science is a fun thing to do, learn and converse about, I think that could be a way to change our society..
  9. Web site: 2010 - Physics at Brown . July 22, 2022 . studylib.net . 7 . en.
  10. Book: Staley . Kent W. . The Evidence for the Top Quark: Objectivity and Bias in Collaborative Experimentation . Staley . Staley, Kent Wade . April 5, 2004 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-82710-2 . 188 . en.
  11. Web site: Sundermier . Ali . How to make a discovery . September 13, 2021 . symmetry magazine . en . Narain's groups analysis was essential to the collaboration’s understanding of a signal that turned out to be the elusive top quark..
  12. News: Heilprin . John . July 3, 2012 . Physicists ready data on 'God particle' to explain everything . A4 . . July 18, 2022 . Meenakshi Narain, a physics professor at Brown University who works on one of the teams, said that although she could not disclose what will be announced on Wednesday, this was a "once in a lifetime event," because the experiments have provided enough data to give "at least the first hints of it in a significant way," or to rule out the existence of Higgs..
  13. Web site: Professor Narain Elected US CMS Collaboration Board Chair Physics Brown University . September 13, 2021 . www.brown.edu.
  14. Web site: Narain, Meenakshi . September 13, 2021 . vivo.brown.edu.
  15. Web site: Chen. Frances. April 22, 2015. Female academics combat bias in STEM fields. September 13, 2021. Brown Daily Herald. en-US.
  16. Web site: Faculty, students reflect on STEM faculty gender gap . July 22, 2022 . The Brown Daily Herald . en-US.
  17. Web site: 2009 . DOE Outstanding Junior Investigator Program Awardees . U.S.Department of Energy.
  18. Web site: NSF Award Search: Award # 9984833 - CAREER: A Precision Measurement of the Top Quark Mass . July 23, 2022 . www.nsf.gov.
  19. Web site: Fellows . July 22, 2022 . Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University . en.
  20. Web site: APS Fellow Archive . July 21, 2022 . www.aps.org . en.
  21. Web site: 2008 Career Development Award Recipients ADVANCE at Brown . July 22, 2022 . www.brown.edu.
  22. Web site: LHC Physics Center LPC Fellows Meenakshi Narain . July 23, 2022 . lpc.fnal.gov.
  23. Web site: DORA IIT Kanpur Distinguished Alumnus Awardee 2020 . July 22, 2022 . www.iitk.ac.in.

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