- Belly up to a computer .
- Make yourself a directory in your name, where you can
store data, programs, etc.:
c:\usr\schmuck
or
d:\usr\hero
- Make a sub-directory, named "gaussian."
- Enter
MINSQ
or, from Windows, double-click on the MINSQ icon.
The fitting program will load and execute. The following instructions
are for MINSQ version
4.02. There is a later version, much more menu driven and mouse
oriented. It is harder to use,
though.
- Go through "Utilities" to "Misc," and set "default directory" to where
you want your
files to be stored, e.g., c:\usr\noah\gaussian\ .
Otherwise when you save data, parameters, etc.,
you will have a terrible time finding them afterwards.
- "Get model," "define model." This defines the formula that will
be fit to your data.
(When you have a model file saved, you can use "retrieve model"
instead.) Names are given to
the variables and parameters. Here is what you should enter:
independent variables: FK
dependent variables: FN
parameters: FNTOT, X, SIGMA
equations:
pi = 3.14159
fnwide = 1. Width of the bins of your histogram.
fact1 = 1./(sqrt(2.*pi)*sigma)
fact2 = exp(-(fk-x)^2/(2.*sigma^2))
fn = fact1*fact2*fntot*fnwide
These equations represent the form for the general Gaussian, as given in
the writeup for lab B2,
but multiplied by a parameter, fntot, which changes the normalization.
FNTOT should come out to
be equal to the total number of entries in the histogram, if the
fit is good.
Enter two returns to finish entering the model; it will be compiled.
Now do "model compile."
If the compilation works, without errors, save the model as the file
d:\usr\schmuck\gaussian\gauss.eqn .
- "Get parameters," "enter parameters," then enter initial guesses for
the three
parameters. When done, "save parameters" to the file
d:\usr\schmuck\gaussian\gauss.par .
- Now enter the data. I give a sample set of data below; you may
want to enter it in, just to make sure the program is working. Then you
would enter in your data.
"get data," "enter:"
9. 3.
10. 25.
11. 132.
12. 111.
13. 19.
14. 6.
15. 1.
You could read in a data file from disk if you wanted to. It should
start with a line with the
variable names:
FK FN
and it should end with the line
ENDDATA
- Do the fit: "calculate," "least squares." For the data given, you should find:
chi-squared = 46.381
FNTOT = 288.21
x = 11.411
F = 0.75806
(The numbers for your data will be different, of course.)
Now let the program determine the errors: "statistics," "90%," etc.
For the data given, the
errors on fntot, x, and F are 7, .02, and .02, respectively.
- Get a graph of the fit: "graphics," "draw plot," "printer output."
Get two.
- Graphics File Conversion. There are (at least) two ways to
convert the graph of your data on the screen into a computer file.
- To make a PostScript file to use in LaTeX, go to plotter setup and
configure the
"Apple Laserwriter" option to write to a disk file. FTP this file
to stars, and you can incorporate
it into a paper.
- To convert to a file which you can post on your web page, follow the
following steps:
- MINSQ should be running under Windows 3.11, in a separate window.
If it is running in full-screen mode, press Alt-Enter to go to window
mode.
- Now copy the window to the clipboard, by pressing Alt-PrintScrn .
- Open Paintbrush, and Paste in the contents of the
clipboard.
- Save as a file in .bmp format (256 colors is certainly
good enough). Ideally, connect over the network to your stars
file system, and save the file directly to your web-page directory.
- If you saved the file locally, now either FTP the file to your
account on
stars, or connect over the network to your stars file
system, and just move the file over using the File Manager.
- Using one of the computers in TH 117, convert this file
to .jpg or .gif format, using
Lview or some other program. Here is an
example of the result.