Infrastructure and Teaching Labs
Physics Lab 1
In this laboratory, first year physics, chemistry and engineering students are exposed for the first time to experimental research methods.
The students engage in research methods such as performing measurements, data analysis and experimental uncertainty estimation, while being exposed to a variety of basic physical phenomena.
The lab program includes phenomena such as the free fall, harmonic motion, energy conservation and friction, viscosity, latent heat, geometrical optics, electrical circuits and more.
The students acquire experience in computerized equipment and in data analysis using MATLAB, which serve them throughout their education at Tel Aviv University.
The students are assisted by graduate students of the School of Physics and Astronomy, though theiy are encouraged to setup their experiments and to perform the measurements on their own.
Physics and Electronics Lab (Laboratory B)
In this lab second-year students take part in a range of experiments from different fields of physics. The students work with important phenomena that have been milestones in the history of physics and with different experimental methods, and learn data analysis and the applications of statistics.
The experiments include some that were crucial to the development of the quantum theory (such as the photo-electric effect and the Frank-Hertz experiment), experiments in optics and wave phenomena, and experiments from the fields of solid state physics ( for example, on superconductivity and the Curie temperature), astrophysics (using galactic data), nuclear physics (Rutherford scattering) and more.
Students also study the theoretical background of these experiments. This complements material covered in other courses, and in some cases is the first exposure to subjects that will be seen in the special courses of the third year.
The students will learn various measurement techniques as they collect the experimental data. Analysing the data and understanding its statistical significance is an important aspect of understanding experiments in physics, as well as in all branches of experimental science.
Physics Lab 3
The advanced laboratory course, taken by third year physics students, is one of the highlights of the physics undergraduate studies. The main purpose of the course is to prepare the students for independent and creative experimental research work in the future.
The course covers a wide range of advanced topics, all relevant to the fields of active research in the School of Physics and Astronomy:
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Fundamental particle, high energy and nuclear physics;
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Condensed matter physics;
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Optics and lasers;
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Astronomy and astrophysics.
The experiments available in the advanced laboratory are:
Mossbauer effect, Compton effect, gamma-gamma correlations, particle detector simulation and data analysis, muon half-life time, neutrino mass, nuclear fission, atomic, molecular and X-ray spectroscopy, molecular fluorescence, electron 2D gas, low temperature superconductivity, spin-dependent transport, nuclear magnetic resonance, optical fibers, laser resonators, photometry of a pulsating star, gravitational lensing analysis.
Through the available experiments, the students are exposed to advanced subjects in physics, many of which they encounter for the first time in their undergraduate studies. Furthermore, the students gain experience in working with modern lab equipment and new measurement methods that they have not encountered during the 1st and 2nd year of their studies. This challenge requires comprehensive preparation prior to the beginning of the experiment.
Every experiment is supervised by a graduate student instructor who assists the students in defining the experimental goals and guides them towards the optimal methods for achieving them.