Course Twiki for Advanced Physics Lab, PHY 4821L

Introduction:

This course is likely the last laboratory course you will take as an undergraduate at FIU. The course is intended to complement and extend what you've learned in the intro and modern physics labs to prepare you for graduate studies in physics or employment in industry or government. In contrast to prior lab coursework in this class, you are expected to work much more independently in both the preparation of your experiments and analysis of your results. The lab instructor while always willing and available to help will not provide you with a detailed set of instructions to perform the experiment or do the analysis. The primary goal and emphasize of the course is the production of research quality work; the final product being a paper suitable, in both content and formatting, for submission to a physics journal.

The course is organized around the production of publication quality research papers on a variety of physics experiments that emphasize different aspects of data taking and analysis. Each student, working in small two-person teams, is presented with a series of experiments (listed below) over the 16 week semester. You are encouraged to collaborate closely with your lab partner, other members of the class or even your lab instructor; however, you are responsible for your own research papers. PLEASE DO NOT TURN IN THE SAME PAPER as your lab partner. Research papers should be written to the standards of a typical modern physics journal. This includes conforming to the specific set of style and formatting requirements that are adhered to strictly. You can choose from among the various styles of publications in use today.The particular type-setting or word processing application used is up to you so you may choose whatever you are familiar with. For example, latex or tex provide the "best looking" papers since these are typesetting application specifically designed for this purpose. Latex and particularly tex, rely on the use of "coded" keywords to draw symbols and equations on paper so are a little more difficult to use than WYSIWG applications like MS Word. On the other hand, MS Word or Openoffice's are perfectly suitable for writing papers and can be made to produce excellent results. In fact, most journals today provide templates in word alongside latex/tex. As a guide for what is expected of you in this class feel free to pull down one of the journals located above cabinets along the walls of our lab room. Likewise, you can download pdfs of CMS papers I've linked for you that are of recent interest, attached below. Finally, I've provided you with latex and word templates you can use, see attachments below.

Please note that this is a three-credit UPPER-LEVEL class and you will be expected to put in the corresponding amount of effort.

Course Textbook and Recommended Reference Material

In this course, none of the textbooks below are specifically required but you are strongly encouraged to purchase at least a copy of Bevington and Robinson. The book by Lyons parrallels the recommended text but focuse more on counting experiments. The book by Melissions is a classic that focus on the specifics of several important experiments with very nice chapters on statistical distributions at the end.

1. "Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences 3rd Edition" (ISBN: 0072472278) by Philp R. Bevington and D. Keith Robinson. This is a classic and every experimentalist should have a copy of their own. This is the only book I would highly recommend you purchase for this class. You can find the latest edition on Amazon for about 45 dollars. Older editions are also available but I do not recommend those. Get the latest or 3rd edition.
2. "Statistics for Nuclear and Particle Physicists" (ISBN: 0521379342) by Louis Lyons. This is another classic geared towards counting experiments but also covers general topics in data analysis. This book is a favorite of Dr. Boeglin.
3. "Experiments in Modern Physics 2nd Edition" (ISBN: 0124898513) by A.C. Melissinos and J. Napolitano. This is another classic and a good read. The book describes in detail the Millikan Oil drop experiment and describes pulsed NMR. The last few chapters include are on probability and statistics as applied to measurement including likelihood and least squares fitting.
4. "Measurements and their Uncertainties" (ISBN: 019956633X) by Ifan G. Hughes & Thomas P.A. Hase. Another excellent reference on experimental techniques and measurements.

Lab Notebook

You should purchase a bound notebook to keep detailed notes about the experiments that you are working on. You should include data that you obtained, notes about the techniques, lists of references, etc. Notes should be dated so that you can cross-reference things in the notebook with other materials you may get or produce during your experiments. A good researcher usually has five times as much information in the notebook than needed--but you never can be sure what you are going to need once you sit down to analyze your data.

To encourage this practice, lab notebooks will be collected from time to time and inspected for completeness.

Lab Reports

After you complete taking data on a given project you will have about one week to complete the report for the lab. The reports should resemble a journal paper. Each report should have an introduction, a description of the procedures and equipment used, a description of analysis procedures, tables and/or graphs of the data collected, and a discussion of the results. Proper use of significant figures and statistical analysis is expected. All graphs and tables should be well labeled and properly displayed. You should cite all references used in a bibliography. I've attached below a couple of recent paper examples from Journals: A Physical Review Letters (PRL) paper on yet another discrepancy between the recent faster than light neutrino results and known physics PhysRevLett.107.251801.pdf and a recent paper on Upsilon resonance production at the LHC by the CMS collaboration PhysRevD.83.112004.pdf. Look to these as samples of what I expect. In addition, the arxiv.org website also has many tex templates most of which I will accept. You may also search the APS site for word templates if you so desire or create your own based on the sample paper attached below. I will add templates as I find them to this twiki. There is some freedom in how you layout your paper but please consult the Physical Review journals PRL, PRB... guidelines for proper formatting and rules regarding the layout. Your report should include these sections:

• Abstract: Usually a single paragraph, only in rare situations should there be more (not in this class). The statements should be concise and short (one or two sentences each) on what was done, how it was done, the major results and any conclusion drawn. If a numerical result(s) is obtained you should include that in the abstract. You can summarize intermediate results or just quote the main result, leaving the rest for the main body of the paper. Always include uncertainties, and make sure that values have the proper number of significant figures and units. The conclusion(s) can be summarized after the results are quoted. Again limit each of these statements to one or two sentences. Also, remember that an abstract is not an introduction so it shouldn't read like one. In principle a general rule of thumb to consider is that an good abstract is one that provides the reader enough information to decide whether it is worthwhile to read the paper that follows. Regarding tense and use of pronouns. Use past and present tense, since the experiment has already been done use past tense when you describe things already accomplished. Use present tense where appropriate for example to state general facts. So "We measured the magnetic moment of a small... " is OK as is "The magnetic moment of a small magnetic disk was determined... " The later is the usual one encountered in physics papers.
• Introduction: Here you will introduce the paper, described what is being measured in detail and why it is interesting. Background information should be included in this section and any theoretical motivation for the work. This section will likely be the most heavily referenced so make sure you cite your sources.
• Experimental Procedure: Describe the experimental setup in detail and, the function of the equipment used and the procedure used to make the measurements. Include figures and drawings and refer to the manuals if that is used significantly. Also, summarize any difficulties experienced during the process of performing the measurements. In this section, you can describe the steps taken to minimize experimental uncertainties or if you prefer leave that discussion to its own separate section.
• Results: describe the result obtained. Included a summary of important final calculations, use tables, plots, figures to describe the results but DO NOT exclude a narrative along with your tables, plots and figures. Also include statistical analysis and their results such as: parameter estimates, goodness of fits values, t-value and/or any other relevant statistical information. A description of your uncertainties; ie., the source of the uncertainty and how they were estimated and computed can be included in this section or if you prefer in its own section later in the paper.
• Conclusion and Discussion: In this section you give context to your results; what they mean and how to interpret them. Discuss how are they related to theoretical predictions, other measurements or previously accepted determinations. You should also discuss possible improvements to the experimental procedure especially if your results are inconsistent with expectations and/or are sigificantly different. You may also want to discuss the precision of your results particularly if these are poor and if there are ways in which they can be improved. For example with a longer experimental run, measure input parameters with different equipment, or use of improved techniques.
• References: Citations should also be done properly formatted and should be consistent with that used in physics journals, such as PRL or PRD. I prefer using square brackets such as [1] and then a proper bibliography started on its own page. Check the sample papers linked below. If you use the style templates below they provide you with proper formatting for your citations automatically. But you need to know how to use it. It pays to learn this sooner rather than later. You can use online sources but only if you cite them properly. In principle, Wikipedia sources should be avoided but since this is class and you are not really writing a paper I will in general allow wikipedia citations, better yet look at the citations in the wikipedia article, read those and use them instead. If you do cite an only resource make sure you do it properly see the AIP style. m to a minimum. Not everything you read on the web is true...
• Appendix: You can include one of these if you need to but it is not necessary.

• Formatting -Not a really a section: Your best bet is to look through the sample paper linked below to see how to properly format a physics paper. Use or PRL or PRD style is preferred. I've provided you below with a latex and word template.
• Writing Guide: Check the AIP style guide 4th edition linked below

A grading rubric GradingRubric will be applied to each lab using the criteria above to assess your performance. Your lab reports (papers) grade will constitute 80% of your final grade for the course. Reports will generally be due one week after you have completed the experiment. Reports that are late will have their grade reduced by approximately one letter grade if not turned in by the due date shown in the google calendar. After two weeks late the lab report will not be accepted and a zero will be assigned. Typically no grades for one lab report will significantly impact your course grade as there are only five lab report grades and one presentation grade in this course. If you miss more than one lab report your chances are pretty good of earning a C- or worse. That would mean you would have to take the class again before you graduate with a degree in Physics.

You can use the Journal of Physics: Conference Series guidelines to format your paper in. But if you prefer to use some other physics journal guidelines you are more than welcomed to do that instead. We provide below zip files with the guideline/templates from the JPC for your convenience.

Presentation

At the end of the semester, you will be required to give a 20-minute presentation on one of the experiments you did or a topic of your choosing related to some physics of interest to you. In the past students have presented work they've participated in during Summer research projects at FIU or elsewhere. For example: at Jefferson Lab, with the Biophysics group etc,. In any case and to avoid conflicts all students need to have their topics approved by me a week before the presentation is scheduled. The presentation will be graded and will constitute 15% of your course grade. The ability to convey and communicate your topic through oral presentations is a critical part of work as a physicist.

Maximum time for each presentation is 20 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions and discussion. The grading on your presentation is based on the following aspects:

1. (20 points) Smoothness and clearness of your talk.

2. (20 points) Structure and organization of your slides (should include: Introduction, background, motivation (significance), method, results, conclusion/summary).

3. (20 points) Your understanding of the topic/research field.

4. (20 points) Interpretation of research/experimental results.

5. (10 points) Completeness of the citation of the sources from which you get the data, image, graph, information, etc.

6. (10 points) Your answer to the questions from your instructor and classmates.

The presentation schedule and topic PresentationSchedule

Exit Exams

To comply with state-mandated requirements, all students will be required to take an "exit exam". This exam covers everything in the FIU undergraduate physics curriculum: Modern Physics, Mechanics, E&M, Thermodynamics, and Quantum Mechanics. The exam is worth 5% of your final grade.

Schedule

You will be rotating through the various labs on a schedule to be determined by the schedule listed below. Typically you will complete 5 labs and your grade will be based on the score you earn on the labs plus the presentation at the end of the semester. The google calender linked belwo will show the lab due date and first draft due dates for your convenience. If there is an issue with the schedule please contact your instructor during the first few times we meet, since once you are on the schedule outlined below it will be difficult to change the sequence of labs. Ultimately you will be graded on five labs plus the presentation.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="600" scrolling="no" src="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=c075emqam1c5lr558rkq8ic1hg%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York" style="border: 0;" width="800"></iframe>

Another rendition of the schedule is available here PHY4821LSchedule

Lab due dates are posted on the google calendar above along with due dates for first drafts. The due dates for the first drafts are not enforced, due dates for the labs reports are as follows: 1 point off per day till 1 week late. After one week the lab report will not be accepted. If there is an issue with due dates and your schedule, upcoming conference etc please let me know.

List of Available Labs

Field	Topic	References and Links		Laboratory Instructions	Students
Computational Physics	Monte Carlo Methods, Binomial Statistics, Errors, Uncertainties and fittin	There are sections in both recommended texts related to this lab. Mellesino has a nice section on probability and statistics, distributions, fitting functions and so does Bevington and Robinson. Other sources and links: Helpful information on how to gain access and use the physics server medianoche HowToAccessComputing, A recommend data analysis package called MNFIU or MN_FIT, essentially an interface to CERN MINUIT fitter. Its one of the few precursors to ROOT but is easier to use. The manual and information is available http://www-zeus.physik.uni-bonn.de/~brock/mn_fit.html, The full blown ROOT data analysis package The ROOTt data analysis framework , and Dr. Boeglin's, collection of python scripts and libraries (Labtools) http://wanda.fiu.edu/boeglinw/LabTools/doc/		MonteCarloLab
Statistics and Probability Distributions	Uncertainties, Poisson and Gaussian statistics	"Experiments in Modern Physics" 2nd ed. by Melissinos & Napolitano. Other sources, Poisson Statistics, Poisson fitter, Counting Statistics,[XYZ of Oscilloscopes (Tektronix intro manual)]]		CountingLab
Fundemental Constants	Millikan Oil Drop Experiment	A nice description of this lab is available from Meliesino & Napolitao 2nd ed. The original paper (A must read) MillikanOilDrop		MillikanLab
E&M	Magnetic Torque & Gyromagnetic ratio	Teachspin website: Magnetic Torque		MagneticTorqueLab
E&M	Magnetic Force	Teachspin website: Magnetic Force		MagneticForceLab
NMR	Pulsed NMR, finding FID	Teachspin website: Pulsed NMR		NMagneticResonanceLab
Astro/particle physics	Cosmic Ray Flux distribution			CosmicRayLab
Condensed Matter Physics/Nanoscience	Quantized Conductance in nanocontacts	This is a newly developed experiment for students interested in condensed Matter Physics, nanoscience and nanotechnology. The experiment will be carried out in Professor Jin He's lab (CP 277) and will be supervised by a graduate student.		QuantizedConductance

-- JorgeRodriguez - 2012-01-02

• HiggsDiscoverPaper-xarch-1207.7235v2.pdf: The Higgs discovery paper published by the CMS Collaboration in 2012.

• PhysRevLett.107.251801.pdf: A PRL paper on the faster than light neutrino results obtained last September by the OPERA collaboration.

• PhysRevD.83.112004.pdf: A recent PRD paper from the CMS collaboration on Upsilon production at the LHC. This longer paper includes lots of figures, tables and equations.

• LaTeXTemplates.zip: Lab paper template/guidelines for latex

• wordguidelines.zip: Lab paper template/guidelines for word

• aip_style_4thed.pdf: aip_style_4thed.pdf

• PhysRev.2.109-MillikanOilDrop.pdf: PhysRev.2.109-MillikanOilDrop.pdf