The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
PHYSICS 598AEM
Analysis of Experimental Measurements
Fall Semester, 2013
Professor Steven Errede (3-0074/serrede@illinois.edu)
Lecture: 12:30-1:50 Tues & Thurs 136 Loomis CRN # 34868
Credit: 4 hrs / 1 Unit
Course Overview/Course Summary:
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).
There will be a text for the course and weekly homework problems will be assigned.
