Methods of Experimental Physics (PHYS 4051/4052W)

Welcome to the home page for the Methods of Experimental Physics classes at the University of Minnesota. These courses are a two-semester sequence on the techniques used in a modern experimental physics laboratory. Because of the importance of electronic instrumentation in today's physics experiments, the first semester of the laboratory will deal with the use of analog and digital techniques for processing electronic signals and with the use of computer instrumentation. The second semester laboratory will consist primarily of a single experimental project taken by the student through the stages of design, proposal, construction, data acquisition, analysis, oral presentation, and written report.

Phys 4051

This course is the first part of the Methods of Experimental Physics sequence. In this semester, students gain experience using analog and digital electronics by building various circuits that are in widespread use. They also learn how to use FPGAs, Verilog, LabVIEW, and signal processing.

Spring 2018 Syllabus: PHYS 4051 Spring 2018 Syllabus
Fall 2018 Lab Manual: Fall2018_4051manual.pdf 
Fall 2018 Lab Manual Chapters 7-10: Fall2018_4051manual_DigitalChapters.pdf

Phys 4052W Project Guidelines:  ProjectGuidelines.pdf

Phys 4052W

This course is the second part of the Methods of Experimental Physics sequence. Students put into practice the techniques studied during the first semester by carrying out pre-designed laboratories, and by designing, planning, and executing an experimental project of their choice.

Spring 2018 Syllabus: PHYS 4052W Spring 2018 Syllabus
Lab Manual Phys 4052W: S18_4052manual.pdf
Phys 4052W Project Guidelines:  ProjectGuidelines.pdf



COUNTDOWN TO NEXT SEMESTER!






MXP Student Projects

Each semester, Phys 4052W students design and complete an experimental project of their own. In addition to submitting a research paper, students are also asked to create a public web page documenting their work. Cataloged in the Student Projects page are the project web pages created by these students.

Advanced Labs

In addition to various experimental projects, staff and students perform more advanced experiments at the University. Experiments of this nature are found in the Advanced Labs page. Included in these pages are comprehensive setup schemes and results of the experiment.

MXP Project Database: Abstracts from over 600 projects going back to 1970