Instructor
Prof. Tara Drake
Email: drakete@unm.edu
Offices: PAIS 2234 and CHTM 118B
Teaching Assistant
Xuefeng Li
Email: xuefengli@unm.edu
The Senior Physics Lab 493L is a laboratory course with experiments in nuclear physics and Atomic, Molecular and Optical (AMO) physics for advanced undergraduate students. Students will obtain expertise in laboratory techniques and equipment, data analysis, error analysis, and in writing formal reports in a scientific format.
Senior Lab is organized around several lengthy experiments, each lasting approximately 3.5 weeks. The complexity of the experiments has been increased substantially from Junior Lab, with a greater emphasis placed on developing independent problem-solving and laboratory skills.
Here are the introductory slides from the first day of class.
Monday, 8:00-11:50 a.m., and Wednesday, 8:00-10:50 am PAIS, Lab 1417.
Choose 3 experiments from the 6 below:
Students will work in teams of 2 (or 3 when necessary) to complete each experiment. Rotation of teammates at the completion of each experiment is encouraged (and may be changed to compulsory, depending on how the first experiments go). Students are expected to share responsibilities in an equitable fashion, and each student is expected to develop a complete, independent understanding of the work.
Students must attend each lab session unless explicitly excused by the instructor. Participation is important, especially when all work is done in groups, and unexcused absences will affect your class participation grade. Before approaching instructor, please negotiate with your teammate(s) how work will be shared.
Students are expected to bring a laptop to each class. At the beginning of every experiment, each team will begin a Google Doc to serve the joint lab notebook for that experiment, and share it with drakete@unm.edu and xuefengli@unm.edu.
The lab notebook should be detailed, clear, complete, and updated every class. You will be graded on the completeness and clarity of your notes--using your lab notebook, a third party should be able to reproduce your work. One the other hand, style and format is less important. Including photos and screenshots is highly encouraged.
The instructors will periodically look at your lab notebook; this will count towards your class participation grade.
Each student on a team is responsible for producing a separate report no later than at the beginning of class one week after the module finishes. The writeup should follow the format of a formal technical document that you would see in a physics journal. This document explains the expectations for each report. Here are the slides presented in class on lab reports.
In teams of 2 or 3, students will give a 20-minute Oral Presentation based on an in-class experiment. This will be followed by questions (about 10 minutes) from students, TA and instructor.
Purpose:
Topics and teams must be proposed to instructor in advance (tbd). Practice talks with instructor are highly encouraged.
The final grade will be based on the homework assignments, one midterm exam and a final exam. The contribution to the final grade is as follows:
Due Dates
| Date | Description |
| 02/19 (W) |
1st Formal Report (by class time) |
| 03/23 (M) | 2nd Formal Report |
| 04/15 (W) | 3rd Formal Report (via email 5pm) |
| 05/11 (M) | 4th Formal Report (via email 5pm) |
| Date | Subject | Assignment | Due | Task | |
| Week1 | 01/22 (W) | Begin Module 1 | |||
| Week 2 | 01/27 (M) | Module 1 (2) | |||
| 01/29 (W) | Module 1 (3) | ||||
| Week 3 | 02/03 (M) | Module 1 (4) | |||
| 02/05 (W) | Module 1 (5) | ||||
| Week 4 | 02/10 (M) | Module 1 (6) | |||
| 02/12 (W) | Module 1 (7) | ||||
| Week 5 | 02/17 (M) | Begin Module 2 | Share New Google Doc Lab Notebook | ||
| 02/19 (W) | Module 2 (2) | Lab Report 1 | due by class at 8am | ||
| Week 6 | 02/24 (M) | Module 2 (3) | |||
| 02/26 (W) | Module 2 (4) | ||||
| Week 7 | 03/02 (M) | Module 2 (5) | |||
| 03/04 (W) | Module 2 (6) | ||||
| Week 8 | 03/09 (M) | Module 2 (7) | |||
| 03/11 (W) | Begin Module 3 | Share New Google Doc Lab Notebook | |||
| Week 9 | Spring break | ||||
| Week 10 | 03/23 (M) | Module 3 (2) | Lab Report 2 | due by class at 8am | |
| 03/25 (W) | Module 3 (3) | ||||
| Week 11 | 03/30 (M) | Module 3 (4) | |||
| 04/01 (W) | Module 3 (5) | ||||
| Week 12 | 04/06 (M) | Module 3 (6) | |||
| 04/08 (W) | Module 3 (7) | ||||
| Week 13 | 04/13 (M) | Begin Module 4 | Share New Google Doc Lab Notebook | ||
| 04/15 (W) | Module 4 (2) | Lab Report 3 | due by class at 8am | ||
| Week 14 | 04/20 (M) | Module 4 (3) | |||
| 04/22 (W) | Module 4 (4) | ||||
| Week 15 | 04/27 (M) | Module 4 (5) | |||
| 04/29 (W) | Module 4 (6) | ||||
| Week 16 | 05/04 (M) | Module 4 (7) | |||
| 05/06 (W) | Oral Presentations | ||||
| Finals week | 05/11 (M) | Lab Report 4 | due by 8am | ||
| 05/13 (W) | Keep finals slot available | ||||
| 05/15 (F) | Keep finals slot available |
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In accordance with University Policy 2310 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), academic accommodations may be made for any student who notifies the instructor of the need for an accommodation. It is imperative that you take the initiative to bring such needs to the instructor’s attention, as he/she are not legally permitted to inquire. Students who may require assistance in emergency evacuations should contact the instructor as to the most appropriate procedures to follow. Contact Accessibility Resource Center at 277-3506 for additional information.
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