Spring 2007 J.M. Lockhart

PHYSICS 710 - ADVANCED LABORATORY TECHNIQUES

This is a course in advanced laboratory techniques intended for graduate students in physics, astronomy,
and other physical sciences. There will be 1-2 hours of lecture each week as well as 3-6 hours of laboratory
and computer work.

I. Lecturer: J.M. Lockhart

Office: TH 334A
Phone : 338-2451; e-mail: lockhart@stars.sfsu.edu
Course Web Page : www.physics.sfsu.edu/~lockhart/courses/phys710.html

Office hours to be announced in class + other times by appointment. You are encouraged to make use of my
office hours. Small gaps in understanding can be easily corrected if taken care of promptly, but can lead to much
greater difficulties later if ignored.

II. Texts: Required: J.M. Lockhart, Modern Data Acquisition and Analysis (2005) – Sold by P/A Club

R.A. Dunlap,  Experimental Physics - Modern Methods (Oxford Univ. Press).

Pratap, Getting Started with MATLAB 7 (Oxford, 2005). Readable and useful. You would not absolutely need
this if you are already familiar with MATLAB or IDL.

Laboratory Notebook. National # 43-591 or #53-108 or equivalent.
Must be bound, with numbered pages.

Recommended:

MATLAB Student Edition, Release 14 for Windows. This is somewhat expensive ($99 plus another $29 if you
want the Signal Processing Toolbox) but may be useful to you for other courses. Older versions are usually available
which may meet your needs.

III. Prerequisites: Completion of undergraduate upper-division courses in mechanics, E&M, thermal physics,
and modern physics. Knowledge of at least one standard computer programming language is expected.

IV. Assignments: A set of 6-7 laboratory experiments will be assigned. For three of these, short reports (3-4
pages) will be required. For one of the experiments, a full scientific paper must be prepared. All
experimental work must be recorded in a laboratory notebook. There will also be weekly required
homework assignments. A minimum 50% average homework grade is required.

V. Exams and Grades: There will be a final exam covering the lecture material. Grades will be assigned according
to the following approximate percentages: Lab notebook and reports, 50%; homework, 25%; final axam, 25%.

VI. Principal Topics. A. Data Reduction & Error Analysis; Computerized Data Analysis & Plotting. B. Laboratory
Electronics & Electronic Signal Processing. C. Sensors, Sources, and Advanced Measurement Techniques.
D. Computer Control of Experiments.