Phys 465: Experimental Physics IV

Fall 2007 Syllabus

Instructors: Debi Prasad Choudhary and Radha Ranganthan

Course Title: Experimental Physics Office: Eucalyptus Hall, 2111C

Course Number: 13902 Units: 4 Phone: 818 700 9509

Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00 – 4:30 PM email: debiprasad.choudhary@csun.edu Radha.ranganathan@csun.edu

Location: Live Oak 1124 Office hours: Tuesday 1:00-2:00PM

Course Objective: The objective of this course is: (1) To perform experiments using the optical instrumentation and computer controlled devices. (2) To analyze the data. (3) To present them in the form of a poster and report.

Reference material: Astrophysical Techniques by C. R. Kitchin, Optical Astronomical Spectroscopy by C. R. Kitchen, The Laboratory Companion by Gary S. Coyne, Learning with LabView by Robert H. Bishop and other literature and manuals.

Requisite: Computer programming - Matlab or IDL, If you do not have adequate knowledge of computer programming language for analyzing the data, please spend some time to learn them for a working knowledge. Strong physics background - optics, interferometer, polarization of light.

Grading Policy: (No makeup is possible), 1. Pre-lab Exercise: 20 %, 2. Laboratory Notebook: 40%, 3. Laboratory Report: 20%, 3. Presentation: 20%.

1. Pre-Lab Exercise: The Pre Lab exercises are given in the WebCT of the course. You are expected to complete them in the first week of the experiment.
2. Laboratory Notebook: The grading policy for Laboratory note book is described in the article by Alexei Appendix1.
3. Presentation: The grading policy for Laboratory Report is described in the Appendix 2.
4. Presentation: The grading policy for oral presentation is described in Appendix 3.

	Spectroscopy
Week 1	Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from Halliday and Reshnick. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the experimental setup. Day: 2.  Calibration of the spectrograph. Take the spectrum of different spectral lamps. Determine the dispersion and resolution of spectrograph.
Week 2	Day: 1. Take the spectrum of Laser sources with varying slit width. Plot the width of observed spectral profile Vs slit width. Determine the optimum slit width. Day: 2. Take the spectrum of Laser sources with varying slit width. Plot the width of observed spectral profile Vs slit width. Determine the optimum slit width.
Week 3	Day: 1. Determine the band pass of a Fabry-Perot etalon. Write the theory of Fabry-Perot etalon estimate its finesse. 1) Take the spectrum of a white light source. 2) Take the spectrum of a white light source through the FP etalon. Day: 2. 3) Divide (2) by (1). 4) Compute the Airy's Function and fit it with the observed profile.
Week 4	Day: 1. Study Zeeman effect in Na light source. Day: 2.Perform the computer based experiments and solve the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and  a poster.

	Interferometry:
Week 1	Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from Halliday and Reshnick. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the experimental setup. Day: 2. Record the fringe system at slightly different orientation of the mirrors. Determine the order of interference.
Week 2	Day: 1. Determine the wevelength for LASERS Red and Green. Day: 2. Determine the coherent length using fringe visibility.
Week 3	Day: 1 and 2. Determine the thickness of a glass plate.
Week 4	Day: 1 and 2. Perform the computer based experiments and solve the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and  a poster.

	Polarimeter:
Week 1	Day: 1. (Pre Lab) Solve problems from Haliday and Reshnik. Set up the procedure. Make the ray diagram of the experimental setup. Day: 2. Determine the Stokes Parameters of a polarizer with classical polarizer method.
Week 2	Day: 1. Measure the Stokes Parameters of a source using a circular polarizer. Day: 3. Measure the Stokes Parameters of a source using a circular polarizer using null-intensity method.
Week 3	Day: 1. and 2. Measure the Stokes Parameters of a source using a circular polarizer using Kent and Lawson method.
Week 4	Day: 1 and 2. Perform the computer based experiments and solve the simulated problems. Prepare the final report and  a poster.