1. Senior Experimental Physics
2017 Semester 2
Sergio Leon-Saval | Senior Experimental Physics Coordinator

2. Introduction

3. Senior Experimental Physics – Context
After this year…
… the experimental physics you do will be for real:
In an Honours project, doing real experimental research in a real research lab
In industry or a government lab doing experimental R&D, analysis, etc.
As part of a further academic research career: PhD, postdoc, etc
We want you to learn all that you will need to excel at this…
Through engaged independent enquiry… learning through doing all aspects of the experiments and solving the problems yourself.

4. ? The Essentials Purpose / aim / idea
Keeping a proper record in a logbook
Presenting your work in written form as a paper or report
Preparation
Understanding concepts
Planning experiment
Reporting your work in an oral presentation
Experimental setup
Standard
Specialised
Purpose built

5. What Is Required in Senior Experimental Physics
MAJOR CHANGES PLEASE READ HANDBOOK
Preparation
Read and understand the notes
Additional reading
Pre-work
In the lab
Experiment
Analysis
Logbook
Communication
Report
Talk
NEW REQUIREMENTS
Credit points 2 4 6
Experiments
Reports
Talks 1 3 5
Detailed Information
Handbook

6. eLearning / BlackBoard

7. Sydney Nanoscience Hub (A31) Room 5001
In The Lab
Sydney Nanoscience Hub (A31) Room 5001
Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri - 2pm to 6pm
Single experiment = 3x afternoons = 12 hours (NEW SESSION TIMES, more hours per experiment)
Individually
Safety
Logbooks
Stay in lab
Checkpoints
Marks: 100
Tutors

8. Tutors
Handbook – Appendix A Schedule of Tutors (also printed and shown in lab, TBD)

9. Experiments NEW REQUIREMENTS Credit points 2 4 6 Experiments Reports
Talks 1 3 5
Note that double and triple experiments (see sections 1.5 and 1.6 of Handbook) count as two or three experiments respectively - for the experiment only, not the Reports or Talks.

10. Booking System

11. Portable Optical Tweezers
Advanced Experiments
Several special experiments for Advanced* students
Different experiment notes and tutoring experience, more student independent work required.
Portable Optical Tweezers
Optical Spectroscopy
Quantum Eraser
Plasma Spectroscopy
He-Ne Laser
Quantum Optics
* Regular students would be considered at supervisor’s discretion

12. Carrying out your Experimental Work - LOGBOOK
IMPORTANT:
Checkpoints have to be signed by tutors.
Be sure to get your experiment marked as soon as it is finished (penalties apply by the end of Week 13, see Handbook)
1st EXPERIMENT completed: logbook will be taken by tutor for detailed marking and feedback to student.
LOGBOOK
- Written in the lab while you do the experiment.
- Deep knowledge of the topic is evident.
- Easy to follow and READ.
- Self-contained detailed record of the experiment.
- Well organised with headings
(e.g. Date, page numbers, aim, headings).
- Practical details are included that could not
otherwise be obtained without doing the
experiment.
- Sensible error analysis.
- Correct numerical analysis of the results.

13. Carrying out your Experimental Work - LOGBOOK
- You were taught in 2nd Year Labs, time to master it!
Carrying out your Experimental Work - LOGBOOK
Written in the lab while you do the experiment.
Deep knowledge of the topic is evident, NOT A EXPERIMENT LAB NOTES REPRODUCTION.
NOT A BEAUTY COMPETITION BUT EASY TO FOLLOW AND READ IS A MUST
Self-contained detailed record of the experiment.
- Well organised with headings
(e.g. Date, page numbers, aim, headings).
- Practical details are included that could not
otherwise be obtained without doing the
experiment.
- Sensible error analysis.
- Correct numerical analysis of the results.
MAJOR AIM: Can someone follow your logbook and repeat your experiment obtaining similar results?
(ask yourself that question when finishing an experiment)
Also: Read the Logbook Guidelines and do the online exercise in eLearning!!

14. Presenting & Reporting Your Experimental Work
Reports
Talks CP 5 7 9 12 2 X 4 6 8
Week 13 (5 June)

15. Motivation Written Communication – an Essential Skill
Scientific reports
Many aspects similar to other reports
Some aspects specific to scientific reports
Graduate Attribute
We assess you
We provide feedback and written guidelines
Tutorial…
C1. Explain and present ideas to different groups of people in plain English.
C2. Write and speak effectively in a range of contexts and for a variety of different audiences and purposes.
C3. Use symbolic and non-verbal communication, such as pictures, icons and symbols as well as body language and facial expressions, effectively.
C4. Present and interpret data or other scientific information using graphs, tables, figures and symbols.

16. Overview Purpose Content Form Common Mistakes Title, Affiliations
Abstract
Introduction
Theory
Experimental procedure
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
References
Form
Common Mistakes

17. Purpose Communication What? Who? How? Tell a story / narrative
Engaging, readable
Clearly explain key concepts - appropriate to reader
Self contained
Adequate background and context
Links for reader to pursue further

18. Title, Authors & Affiliations
Concise, meaningful, comprehensive. Be creative – NOT Experiment Title No 5
Author(s)
ONLY your SID number on the lab reports
Very important – anonymous marking
Affiliation(s)
University of Sydney
Determination of Boltzmann’s Constant from Measurement of Johnson Noise in a Resistor
SID
School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

19. Abstract How is abstract used? Summarise Searching
Decide whether to read
Key points
Summarise
Describe experiment
Main results
Implications / importance

20. Introduction Context / Background This Paper…
Why is this topic important
What has been done already
When and by whom (with references)
This Paper…
Describe what is in the paper
And how it builds on the past
More detailed background information, if necessary

21. Theory Sufficient theory to explain Concise vs thorough
Experiment operation
Results
Concise vs thorough
Be very selective
Amount of theory can vary significantly depending on topic
Mathematical or Physical
Doesn’t all have to be upfront. Can introduce some theory when needed for:
Experiment details
Results interpretation

22. Experimental Equipment and Procedure
Describe apparatus
Figures
Convey complex concepts
Need to be well chosen
Describe procedures
Narrative, not recipe!
Not just what:
Why
How
Flow back and forth if narrative makes more sense

23. Results and Discussion
Present results
Figures
Key values
Describe results
Reference figures
Quantitatively
Extra physics to assist interpretation
Discuss results
Connection with the theory?
Relation to work of others?
Implications?

24. Summary / Conclusion Similar to abstract, typically longer
What was done
Key results / observations
What does it mean / implications / why is it important
Future work (if appropriate)

25. Acknowledgements and References
Probably not needed for Senior Lab
Who helped you
How you were funded
References
Note how many!
All sources on which your report relies
Several key sources
Text books or seminal papers
How do you find them?
Wikipedia – AVOID!! be very careful!
Reference anything you borrowed from
Otherwise it is plagiarism

26. Form Layout / Format / Structure Style / Writing/ Details
Required format
How substantial?
Structure
Quality
Style / Writing/ Details
Readability / Narrative / Engaging
English
Tense – The measurements WERE performed, and the results ARE presented.
Errors
Graphs & Figures
Equations & Tables
Misc

27. Format
Format – not the researcher choice!...we need to follow a predetermined format.
Understand it before you start
Physics Review A
Check process early

28. Substantiality / Structure / Quality / Style
4 pages
Use the space well
Minimum white space, waffle or filler
Structure
Determined by narrative
How do the parts fit together?
Don’t jump around unnecessarily
Quality
Layout, errors, figures
Style
Good English, readable, engaging

29. Graphs and Figures Necessary Properly formatted Clear and uncluttered
Not for aesthetic purposes
Serve a technical function
Very efficiently convey complex information
Save space, and reader time
Properly formatted
No Scans
No Hand annotation
No Photos of instrument screens
Download data and plot – Matlab, Origin, Excel
Clear and uncluttered
All key information
No confusing spurious material
Detailed captions
All information in presented figure in detail
Everything necessary to interpret
Numbered (and referenced by number in text)
Graphs
Choice of type of graph
Log / lin axes
Data points not joined by dots
Appropriate error bars
Sensibly scaled
Labelled axes
Legend
Font size

30. Equations

31. Equations, Tables, Misc Equations Tables References
Appropriate equations – just what is necessary, nothing trivial, no derivations
Properly formatted – not scans or jpgs inserted – use equation editor / formatting
All symbols defined in text immediately before or after equation
Numbered (referenced by number in text)
Tables
Appropriate use – don’t tabulate large amounts of data
References
Properly formatted
Units – SI (unless some very good reason)

32. Common Mistakes Report is very different from lab book
Do not regurgitate the lab notes
Do not write lists of instructions
Do not use bullet point lists
Don’t do derivations or show intermediate calculations
Number equations, figures, tables, references
Graphs are usually better than tables

33. Reports are marked based on this Rubric

34. Questions… Also: Read the Report Writing Guidelines in eLearning!!
Acknowledgements
The sample paper is (obviously) from Physics Review Letters
Examples taken from past student reports are deliberately not acknowledged to avoid potential embarrassment.

35. Assessment NEW REQUIREMENTS Component Marks
Logbook write-ups 100 per experiment
Reports per report
Talks per talk
This means that the maximum achievable mark is #CP × 150
Or more explicitly:
2 CP is 2 logbook write-ups reports + 0 talk = 300 Marks
4 CP is 3 logbook write-ups reports + 1 talk = 600 Marks
6 CP is 5 logbook write-ups reports + 2 talks = 900 Marks
Credit points 2 4 6
Experiments
Reports
Talks 1 3 5

36. Assessment PS
50-64
Competent work, but with basic or incomplete understanding of the principles or techniques.
Lab book write up / report is reasonably well organised and sufficient.
Talk makes basic use of audio/visual materials, and provides a reasonable description of the principles, experiment and results CR
65-74
Good work with reasonable understanding of the principles and techniques in context of the experiment, and some ability to consider/analyse the problem outside of the prescription in the lab notes.
Lab book write up / report provides a complete and good summary of the principles and experiment, together with appropriate analysis, discussion of errors, etc.
Talk makes good use of audio/visual materials, and provides a good description of the principles, experiment and results, together with demonstrating a good understanding of the topic. DI
75-84
Excellent work with a very good understanding of the principles and techniques of the experiment and demonstrating an understanding of how they might apply more broadly.
Lab book write up / report is well organised and clearly explains all salient aspects of the material at an appropriate level.
Talk makes very good use of audio/visual materials, shows good understanding of the topic, and is clearly presented. HD
85-100
Outstanding work demonstrating a deep understanding of the principles and mastery of the experimental techniques, at a level where they could be used to pursue novel research.
Lab book write up is of professional researcher standard with no significant flaws or omissions.
Report is at level equivalent to journal publication.
Talk makes excellent use of audio/visual materials, shows excellent understanding of the topic, and is clearly, coherently and engagingly presented at a standard that would be appropriate for a research conference.

37. Semester Schedule

38. 2017 Semester 1 Semester 2 Credit Points of Lab
The number of credit points allocated to the Physics laboratory component of each unit is given in parenthesis
Semester 1
PHYS 3040, 3940 Electromagnetism & Lab (4 credit points)
PHYS 3039, 3939 Quantum Physics / Computational Physics & Lab (2 credit points)
Semester 2
PHYS 3090, 3990 Statistical Mechanics & Lab (4 credit points)
PHYS 3069, 3969 High Energy Physics & Lab (2 credit points)
PHYS 3074, 3974 Cond. Matter / High Energy Physics & Lab (2 credit points)
PHYS 3099, 3999 Statistical Mechanics / Cond. Matter & Lab (2 credit points)

39. Safety Laser Safety https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWr4vRN6HCQ
Radiation Safety
A/Prof Joe Khachan
Building Evacuation

40. Building Evacuation