Phys 503

Information and data analysis

Uncertainties in measurements. Measuring errors. Uncertainties. Parent and Sample Distributions. Mean and Standard Deviation of Distributions. Probability Distributions. Binomial Distribution. Poisson Distribution. Gaussian Distribution. Lorentzian Distribution. Error Analysis. Instrumental and Statistical Uncertainties. Propagation of Errors. Specific Error Formulas. Application of error Equations. Estimates of Mean and Errors. Method of Least Squares. Statistical Fluctuations. Probability Tests. Least-Squares Fit to a Straight Line. Dependent and Independent Variables. Methods of Least Squares. Error Estimation. Some Limitations of the Least Squares Method. Alternate Fitting Method. Least-Squares Fit to a Polynomial. Least-Squares Fit to an Arbitrary Function.