ADVANCEDLABORATORY
Physics4430/5430SpringSemester,2016
LOCATION
ThelabandlecturestakeplaceinDuaneG-214.
INSTRUCTORS
LorenHough
Loren.Hough@colorado.edu
KevinStenson
Kevin.Stenson@colorado.edu
WEBSITE
Thewebsitefortheclasshasgeneralinformation,themostup-to-datescheduling
information,andmostofthelabguides:
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys4430/phys4430_sp16/
ONBEINGANEXPERIMENTALIST
Howmuchtimedoesanexperimentalistspenddoingphysics?Theanswerdependsdeeply
uponyourunderstandingofhowphysics,anexperimentallybasedfieldofknowledge,
actuallyworks.Youmightthinktheansweris,“Notmuch.”,andyou’dberightifyouthink
of‘doingphysics’asmakingthediscovery,orevensimplyconceivingofanexperiment.In
fact,anexperimentalphysicist’stimeislargelyspent‘doingphysics’throughoutthedesign
andconstructionofexperimentalsystemsandcomponents.Ifyoudon’tunderstandthe
physicsofyourexperiment,thenthereisonlyasmallchancethatyou’lluseitto
successfullyunderstandnewphysics.Oftenanexperimentalist’stimeisspenttryingto
understandwhyanexperimentisn’tworking,oratleastisnotworkingasexpected.They
needtofigureoutwhatmodifications,bothinapparatusandinunderstanding,theyneedto
make.ThedemonstrationofBose-EinsteinCondensationhereattheUniversityofColorado
generatedalotofexcitementinthescientificcommunity.Thatwasanexperimentfiveor
sixyearsinthemaking.Itcouldbesaidthatitwasfiveorsixyearsinthetrying,before
everything(intellectualunderstandingandexperimentaltechniques)convergedtoa
successfuloutcome.
Sowhatisexperimentalphysicstrainingallabout?Agoodexperimentalphysicisthasa
deepknowledgeofphysicalprinciplesandabroadrangeofskillsinadditiontoanexpertise
insomeparticularfieldofphysics.Thestandardintellectualequipmentlistincludes
familiaritywithseveralengineeringdisciplinessuchaselectronics,mechanicaldesign,
strengthofmaterials,andvacuumtechnologyandfamiliaritywithinstrumentationsuchas
oscilloscopes,frequencycounters,spectrumanalyzers,voltmeters,andthelike.What
distinguishesagoodexperimentalphysicistfromahighlyskilledtechnician?Agood
experimentalistisahighlyskilledtechnician,yetthephysicisthasaverydifferentsetof
goals:theoutcomeisverificationofatheory,orademonstrationofsomenewprinciple,or
thelike,andtheskillsareusedistogetfromheretothereintheshortestpath.Duringthe
testofthefirstatombomb,EnricoFermiwassaidtobeseendroppingbitsofpaper;by
observingtheirhorizontalmotionrelativetotheirverticalfall,Fermiwasabletoestimate
theenergyoftheblast.Nothingfancy,nosophisticatedinstrumentation,justsimple
physicalprinciplesgavehimtheroughanswerhewaslookingfor.Furthermore,a
physicist’sknowledgeofphysicalprinciplesallowsthemtobeageneralist--inthislabwhat
youmightlearnaboutimpedancematchinginelectroniccircuitswillenableyouto
generalizetoimpedancematchinginmechanicalsystemstomakeabettermachine,orin
quantumphysicstotransferwavefunctions.
TheAdvancedLaboratorycourseisdesignedtoexposeyoutoandequipyouwithsomeof
theessentialskillsthatanexperimentalistshouldhave.Itisalsodesignedtoexposeyouto
avarietyofexperimentalphysicstopics,andtoprovideasenseoftrulyindependent
research.
ORGANIZATION
Thetwocourses(PHYS4430andPHYS5430)sharefacilities,instructorsandmeetingtimes.
PHYS4430isforundergraduateswhohavealreadytakenPHYS3330,oranequivalent
courseinlaboratoryelectronics.PHYS5430isforgraduatestudents,withoutprerequisites,
orundergraduateswhohavealreadytaken3330and4430.Thevariouscourse
requirementsaresummarizedbelow.
SummaryofLaboratoryRequirements
What
Lectureattendance
Labattendance
Pre-labreport(1question)
LectureActivities
Labnotebookscans
Oralorwrittenreports(Labs1-5)
Projectwrittenreport
Projectoralreport
When
TuesdayandThursday9-10(Section100)
or1-2(Section200).Youmustattendthe
sectionthatyouareregisteredfor.
10-1Tuesday(Section101)or2-5Tuesday
(Section201).Youmustattendthesection
thatyouareregisteredfor.
SubmittoD2Lby11:59pmonMonday,the
daybeforestartingtheexperiment.
Seecourseschedule.
SubmittoD2Lby11:59pmontheMonday
followingtheexperiment(justbefore
startingyournextexperiment).
SubmittoD2Latthesametimeasthelab
notebookscan(above).Oralpresentation
willbeduringlectureperiod.
Endofsemester
Endofsemester
Thelaboratoriesareavailableforworkingonexperimentsexceptbetweenthehoursof
midnightand7a.m.Pleasenote,though,thatattendanceduringyourregularscheduled
laboratoryperiodisrequiredunlessyouhavemadespecificotherarrangementswith
yourlabinstructor.
ThefirstweekallstudentswilldoaGaussianLaserBeamsexperiment.Youaretosubmita
proposalforasequenceofadditionalexperimentsthatyouwishtocomplete.Wedothisso
thatwecanschedulealloftherequeststoavoidconflictswithequipmentusage.The
proposalisfurtherdescribedbelow.
ScheduledlecturetimeisTuesdayandThursdayfrom9:00to9:50AM(Section100)or
1:00-1:50PM(Section200).Youmustattendthelectureforthesectionthatyouare
enrolledin.Thefirstlectureperiodwillbeanorganizationalmeetingthatwillincludea
briefdescriptionoftheavailableexperimentsandthefacilities.Experimentalwrite-ups
thatnoteanyspecialprerequisitesareavailableonthewebsite.Theremainderofthe
lectureperiodswillbeusedtocoveravarietyoftopicsincludingexperimentalmethods,
materials,andtechniques.Theseperiodsmayalsobeusedfororganizationalpurposes,
reports,andmeetingswithstudents.Attendanceatthelecturesisrequired.Pleasenote
thatvariousroomchanges,dependingonthelecture,maybepossible.
TEXTBOOK
Thefollowingoptionaltextsareavailableinthelab:
BuildingScientificApparatus:Apracticalguidetodesignandconstruction,JohnH.Moore,
ChristopherC.DavisandMichaelA.Coplan,PerseusBooks,Cambridge,MA,3rdedition,
2003.Thistextisavaluableresourceforexperimentalists.Althoughtherearenoplanned
specificassignmentsfromthebook,itsutilitywillvastlyoutlivethesemester.
ExperimentsinModernPhysics,A.MelissinosandJ.Napolitano,AcademicPress,2nded.,2003.
(The1steditionfrom1966isdatedinsomepartsbutstillveryuseful.)Onceagain,there
willbenoassignmentsbutthisbookwillbeusefulthissemesteraswellasinyourfuture
endeavors.Thelabhasafewcopiesofthefirstedition.
CONDUCT
Everythingyoudointhecontextofthislab,fromwritinglabreports,totakingcareofyour
equipment,togivingpresentations,isexpectedtobeataprofessionallevel.Pleasetake
responsibilityforyourequipment,takeresponsibilityforyourownsafetyandforthesafety
ofothers.
Formanyoftheassignmentsyouwillworkwithalabpartner.Pleasetreatyourlabpartner
withthesamedegreeofcourtesyandrespectthatyouwouldwanttobetreatedwith
yourself.
Notethatwhileyouwilloftenworkonthelabswithapartner,thenotebooks/data
analysis/presentations/labreportsyousubmitmustbeYOUROWNwork.Ifyousubmit
identicalwork,thenwewillgradetheworkanddividethescorebythenumberofpartners
PROPOSALS
By11:59PMTuesdayofthesecondweekyoushouldsubmitawrittenproposalfora
sequenceoffourexperimentsplustwoalternateexperiments.Forgraduatestudentsin
PHYS5430,thesecanincludethestandardelectronicslabexperiments,eachofwhichare
oneweeklabs.The5430studentsarealsoexpectedtodoall"optional"partsinthe4430
labsandtogobeyondthematerialpresentedintheexperimentinstructionsonsome
experiments.The5430studentswhohavetaken4430cannotrepeatexperimentsthey
havedonepreviously.Theinstructorswillapproveproposals,takingcaretoresolve
equipmentconflicts.Studentsshouldworkinpairsthroughouttheterm.Whenturningin
yourproposalspleaseindicatethenameofyourpartnerforeachexperiment.Your
proposalmustincludeatleastoneopticslabandonemodernphysicslab.
PROJECTS
Severalweeksattheendofthetermwillbesetasideforprojects.Projectsshouldbe
selectedinconsultationwithyourinstructorduringthemiddleofthesemester.Theycanbe
anythingthatoffersyouachancetodemonstrateindependenceandcreativity.Awide
varietyofpossibleexperimentsorconstructionprojectsareacceptableaslongasitis
somethingthatisnotpartofastandardexperimentpresentedinoneofthewrite-ups.
GRADING
Thegradingwillbebasedonpre-labs,labnotebooks,labreportsandoralpresentations,
andclassparticipation.Thetablebelowsummarizesthegradingscheme.Allworkis
submittedintothecorresponding“dropbox”onD2L.
Foreachstandardtwo-weekguidedlab:
− Pre-labs(5pointsperlab)
− Labnotebooks(15pointsperlab)
− Oralpresentationorwrittenlabreport(15pointsperlab)
Classparticipationduringsemester
− 6Lectureactivities(5pointseach)
− Attendance+PeerFeedbackduringoralpresentations
FinalProject
− Proposals(5pointsforabstractand10forproposal)
− Updates(3Tuesdayreports,5pointseach)
− Labnotebook
− Finalwrittenreport
− Finaloralpresentation
Total
SemesterTotalPoints
20
75
75
30
30
15
15
30
30
30
350
Whatisexpectedforpre-labs,labnotebooks,labreports,andoralpresentationsisavailable
onthewebsite(seeGuidelines)andwillbediscussedinclass.
Attendanceisrequiredsoifyoumissascheduledlabperiodwithoutbeingexcusedby
yourinstructor,youwillautomaticallylosepoints.Ifyouconvinceyourinstructorthatyou
hadasufficientlygoodreasonformissingclass(alwaysmucheasierifyoucontactthe
instructortodiscussitbeforeyoumisstheclass)youwillbeabletomakeuptheclass.In
additiontotheassignedthree-hourlabperiod,itisexpectedthatadditionaltime(usuallyat
leastanadditional3hours/week)inthelabwillbeneededtocompletetheexperiments
plusadditionaltimeoutsidethelabtoprepareforthelab,analyzethedata,andproduce
reports.Theinstructionsforeachexperimentaswellasotherreferencematerialshouldbe
readbeforeeachscheduledlabperiod.Instructionsforeachexperimentareavailableonthe
coursewebsite.
LABBOOK
Youwillbegivenalabbookwithnumberedquadrilleruledpagesforuseinthiscourse.
Youmustkeepthislabnotebook,whichwillbeusedtorecordyourdataandallrelevant
information,includingcalculationsandanswerstoallquestionsaskedintheguide.Each
labbookrecordmustincludetheoriginaldataasrecordedinthelab.Whileyourentries
mustbelegible,donotbeoverlyconcernedaboutneatnessintheoriginalrecordingofdata;
itismoreimportanttorecordthedatadirectlyinthelabbookasyoudotheexperiment.It
isokaytomakemistakes,justmakecorrectionsobvious,andstrikethroughsectionsthat
shouldbeignored.Yourlabbookshouldbesufficientlycompletesothatonecould
reconstructtheexperimentatsomelaterdatefromtheinformationinthelabbookwithout
recoursetomemory.Uponcompletionofalab,youshouldsubmitascanofallrelevantlab
notebookpagesintothesameD2L“dropbox”usedforsubmittingyouroralorwrittenlab
report.ThemainofficescannercanquicklyscanyournotebookintoasinglePDFdocument
andemailitdirectlytoyou.Thisisthemostefficientwaytoscanyournotebook.Ifyouuse
Mathematicaasalabnotebook,youarestillrequiredtoprintoutthenotebookpagesand
tapetheminyourlabnotebook.
LABORATORY
TheLaboratoryisorganizedintotwomajorgeographicsections:Optics,andModern
Physics.Storageofcomponentsandequipmentisarrangedaccordingly.Thelaboratory
equipment,electronicandopticalcomponents,andtoolsareorganizedandlabeled.The
opticsroomsandtheelectronicslabareequippedwithkitsofcomponentsforthestandard
experiments.Thereisasinglelocationinthelabforothercomponentsorequipment,except
forstandardtools,ofwhichtherearetwosets,oneinelectronicsandoneinoptics.Please
tourthelabandfamiliarizeyourselfwiththelocationoftheseitems.
Thelabistobemaintainedintheconditioninwhichitbeginsthesemester.Ofcourse,while
equipment,toolsandcomponentscanbecollectedandkeptduringthecourseofan
experiment,theyaretobereturnedtotheirhomeswhentheexperimentisfinished.
EXPERIMENTS
Optics
GaussianBeams
DiffractionandFourierOptics
MichelsonInterferometer
HydrogenandMercurySpectroscopy
PolarizationofLight
LaserSpectroscopy
Lasertrappingandcooling
ModernPhysics
AbsoluteMeasurementoftheFaraday
Scanningtunnelingmicroscope
Gammarayspectroscopy
Earth’sfieldnuclearmagneticresonance
Pulsednuclearmagneticresonance
NMRspectroscopy
Lifetimeofmuonsgeneratedbycosmicrays
Solitonpropagation
Acousticreflectometer
X-rayFluorescence
X-ray(andotheroptical)diffraction
CUPOLICIES
(1)Ifyouqualifyforaccommodationsbecauseofadisability,pleasesubmittoyour
professoraletterfromDisabilityServicesinatimelymanner(forexamaccommodations
provideyourletteratleastoneweekpriortotheexam)sothatyourneedscanbe
addressed.DisabilityServicesdeterminesaccommodationsbasedondocumented
disabilities.ContactDisabilityServicesat303-492-8671orbye-mailat
dsinfo@colorado.edu.
Ifyouhaveatemporarymedicalconditionorinjury,seeTemporaryMedicalConditions:
Injuries,Surgeries,andIllnessesguidelinesunderQuickLinksatDisabilityServiceswebsite
anddiscussyourneedswithyourprofessor.
(2)Campuspolicyregardingreligiousobservancesrequiresthatfacultymakeeveryeffort
todealreasonablyandfairlywithallstudentswho,becauseofreligiousobligations,have
conflictswithscheduledexams,assignmentsorrequiredattendance.Seefulldetailsat
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html
(3)Studentsandfacultyeachhaveresponsibilityformaintaininganappropriatelearning
environment.Thosewhofailtoadheretosuchbehavioralstandardsmaybesubjectto
discipline.Professionalcourtesyandsensitivityareespeciallyimportantwithrespectto
individualsandtopicsdealingwithdifferencesofrace,color,culture,religion,creed,
politics,veteran'sstatus,sexualorientation,gender,genderidentityandgenderexpression,
age,disability,andnationalities.Seepoliciesat
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.htmland
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code
(4)TheUniversityofColoradoBoulder(CU-Boulder)iscommittedtomaintainingapositive
learning,working,andlivingenvironment.TheUniversityofColoradodoesnot
discriminateonthebasisofrace,color,nationalorigin,sex,age,disability,creed,religion,
sexualorientation,orveteranstatusinadmissionandaccessto,andtreatmentand
employmentin,itseducationalprogramsandactivities.(RegentLaw,Article10,amended
11/8/2001).CU-Boulderwillnottolerateactsofdiscriminationorharassmentbasedupon
ProtectedClassesorrelatedretaliationagainstorbyanyemployeeorstudent.Forpurposes
ofthisCU-Boulderpolicy,"ProtectedClasses"referstorace,color,nationalorigin,sex,
pregnancy,age,disability,creed,religion,sexualorientation,genderidentity,gender
expression,orveteranstatus.Individualswhobelievetheyhavebeendiscriminatedagainst
shouldcontacttheOfficeofDiscriminationandHarassment(ODH)at303-492-2127orthe
OfficeofStudentConduct(OSC)at303-492-5550.InformationabouttheODH,theabove
referencedpolicies,andthecampusresourcesavailabletoassistindividualsregarding
discriminationorharassmentcanbeobtainedathttp://www.colorado.edu/odh
(5)AllstudentsoftheUniversityofColoradoatBoulderareresponsibleforknowingand
adheringtotheacademicintegritypolicyofthisinstitution.Violationsofthispolicymay
include:cheating,plagiarism,aidofacademicdishonesty,fabrication,lying,bribery,and
threateningbehavior.AllincidentsofacademicmisconductshallbereportedtotheHonor
CodeCouncil(honor@colorado.edu;303-735-2273).Studentswhoarefoundtobein
violationoftheacademicintegritypolicywillbesubjecttobothacademicsanctionsfrom
thefacultymemberandnon-academicsanctions(includingbutnotlimitedtouniversity
probation,suspension,orexpulsion).FurtherinformationontheHonorCodecanbefound
athttp://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.htmlandat
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/