This new book aims to guide both the experimentalist and theoretician through their compulsory laboratory courses forming part of an undergraduate physics degree. The rationale behind this book is to show students and interested readers the value and beauty within a carefully planned and executed experiment, and to help them to develop the skills to carry out experiments themselves.
This book on the use of Arduino and Smartphones in physics experiments, with a focus on mechanics, introduces various techniques by way of examples. The main aim is to teach students how to take meaningful measurements and how to interpret them. Each topic is introduced by an experiment. Those at the beginning of the book are rather simple to build and analyze. As the lessons proceed, the experiments become more refined and new techniques are introduced. Rather than providing recipes to be adopted while taking measurements, the need for new concepts is raised by observing the results of an experiment. A formal justification is given only after a concept has been introduced experimentally. The discussion extends beyond the taking of measurements to their meaning in terms of physics, the importance of what is learned from the laws that are derived, and their limits. Stress is placed on the importance of careful design of experiments as to reduce systematic errors and on good practices to avoid common mistakes. Data are always analyzed using computer software. C-like structures are introduced in teaching how to program Arduino, while data collection and analysis is done using Python. Several methods of graphical representation of data are used.
Long-listed for the 2016 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "An important book that provides insight into key new developments in our understanding of the nature of space, time and the universe. It will repay careful study." --John Gribbin, The Wall Street Journal "An endlessly surprising foray into the current mother of physics' many knotty mysteries, the solving of which may unveil the weirdness of quantum particles, black holes, and the essential unity of nature." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) What is space? It isn't a question that most of us normally ask. Space is the venue of physics; it's where things exist, where they move and take shape. Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time: nonlocality-the ability of two particles to act in harmony no matter how far apart they may be. It appears to be almost magical. Einstein grappled with this oddity and couldn't come to terms with it, describing it as "spooky action at a distance." More recently, the mystery has deepened as other forms of nonlocality have been uncovered. This strange occurrence, which has direct connections to black holes, particle collisions, and even the workings of gravity, holds the potential to undermine our most basic understandings of physical reality. If space isn't what we thought it was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, George Musser sets out to answer that question, offering a provocative exploration of nonlocality and a celebration of the scientists who are trying to explain it. Musser guides us on an epic journey into the lives of experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem, astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big bang. He traces the often contentious debates over nonlocality through major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence. Their conclusions challenge our understanding of not only space and time but also the origins of the universe-and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics. Delightfully readable, Spooky Action at a Distance is a mind-bending voyage to the frontiers of modern physics that will change the way we think about reality.
Based on a series of experiments that have been tried and tested over a period of several years at Universities in the United Kingdom, this is a book aimed at undergraduate physics students.
A treatment of the experimental techniques and instrumentation most often used in nuclear and particle physics experiments as well as in various other experiments, providing useful results and formulae, technical know-how and informative details. This second edition has been revised, while sections on Cherenkov radiation and radiation protection have been updated and extended.
Physics practical classes form an important part of many scientific and technical courses in higher education. In addition to the older standard experiments, such practicals now generally include a few computer-controlled experiments developed in association with the research groups active in the particular university or college. Since there is relatively little exchange of information between the teaching staff of different institutes, the personal computer, despite its ubiquity, is underexploited in this role as a teaching aid. The present book provides a detailed description of a number of computer-controlled experiments suitable for practical classes. Both the relevant physics and the computational techniques are presented in a form that enables the readers to construct and/or perform the experiment themselves.
This textbook provides the knowledge and skills needed for thorough understanding of the most important methods and ways of thinking in experimental physics. The reader learns to design, assemble, and debug apparatus, to use it to take meaningful data, and to think carefully about the story told by the data. Key Features: Efficiently helps students grow into independent experimentalists through a combination of structured yet thought-provoking and challenging exercises, student-designed experiments, and guided but open-ended exploration. Provides solid coverage of fundamental background information, explained clearly for undergraduates, such as ground loops, optical alignment techniques, scientific communication, and data acquisition using LabVIEW, Python, or Arduino. Features carefully designed lab experiences to teach fundamentals, including analog electronics and low noise measurements, digital electronics, microcontrollers, FPGAs, computer interfacing, optics, vacuum techniques, and particle detection methods. Offers a broad range of advanced experiments for each major area of physics, from condensed matter to particle physics. Also provides clear guidance for student development of projects not included here. Provides a detailed Instructor’s Manual for every lab, so that the instructor can confidently teach labs outside their own research area.
Clear, detailed explorations feature extensive quotations from original research papers in their coverage of groundbreaking research. Topics include x-rays, superconductivity, neutrinos, lasers, and many other subjects. 120 illustrations. 1975 edition.
