PHYS 598 AEM

Subject offerings of new and developing areas of knowledge in physics intended to augment the existing curriculum. See Class Schedule or departmental course information for topics and prerequisites. Course Information: May be repeated in the same or separate terms if topics vary.

ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS. This course will cover a number of topics including: The estimation of experimental uncertainties ("errors") on individual measurements, the extraction of physics parameters (and their associated uncertainties) from a set of measurements, hypothesis testing and Monte Carlo methods. The lectures will also discuss the basics of probability theory and examine various probability distributions that have common statistical applications. Various statistical concepts and applications including error propagation, data fitting using least-squares and maximum likelihood methods, goodness-of-fit, etc., will be discussed. The course will also explore practical problems such as random number generation and function minimization. There are no formal prerequisites, but the course will demand mathematical sophistication comparable to that required for Quantum Mechanics (PHYCS 486-7). Advanced undergraduate students may enroll with the consent of the instructo