Contents
Preface...................................................................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................................... xi
Part I Fundamentals
1. Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 3
Walter Fox Smith
2. Planning and Carrying Out Experiments...................................................................................... 7
Walter F. Smith
3. Presenting Your Results................................................................................................................. 19
Walter F. Smith
4. Uncertainty and Statistics.............................................................................................................. 29
Paul Thorman
5. Scientific Ethics............................................................................................................................... 53
Grace McKenzie-Smith
Part II Tools of an Experimentalist
6. Analog Electronics.......................................................................................................................... 73
Walter F. Smith
7. Fundamentals of Interfacing Experiments with Computers.................................................... 133
Walter F. Smith
8. Digital Electronics......................................................................................................................... 143
Brian Collett
9. Data Acquisition and Experiment Control with Python........................................................... 195
Paul Freeman and Jami Shepherd
10. Basic Optics Techniques and Hardware..................................................................................... 227
Walter F. Smith
11. Laser Beams, Polarization, and Interference............................................................................. 247
Justin Peatross and Michael Ware
12. Vacuum........................................................................................................................................... 263
Walter F. Smith
13. Particle Detection.......................................................................................................................... 267
Joseph Kozminski
Part III Fields of Physics
14. Development and Supervision of Independent Projects............................................................ 289
Melissa Eblen-Zayas
15. Condensed Matter Physics........................................................................................................... 299
Walter F. Smith
16. Biophysics....................................................................................................................................... 307
Mason Klein
17. Non-Linear, Granular, and Fluid Physics................................................................................... 327
Nathan C. Keim
18. Atomic and Molecular Physics..................................................................................................... 341
Robbie Berg and Glenn Stark
19. Photonics and Fiber Optics.......................................................................................................... 371
Jay Sharping and Walter F. Smith
20. Experiments with Entangled Photons......................................................................................... 377
Enrique J. Galvez
21. Nuclear and Particle Physics........................................................................................................ 403
Brett Fadem
Index........................................................................................................................................................431