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SEEING AND BELIEVING: DETECTION, MEASUREMENT, AND INFERENCE IN EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS
By Kathryn Schaffer, Kavli Center For Cosmological Physics, Postdoctoral Fellow
The University of Chicago
Spring 2008 Arthur H. Compton Lectures
Enrico Fermi Institute
Saturday mornings at 11:00am in Room 106 of the Kersten Physics Teaching Center, 5720 South Ellis Avenue. Enter through the door at the southeast corner.
Beginning April 5 and continuing through June 14, 2008 (No lecture on Saturday, May 24th, Memorial Day weekend). You need not attend every session, to get a lot out of the series.
Dear Friends of the Enrico Fermi Institute:
We cordially invite you to join us for the next series of the Arthur H. Compton Lectures. The Lectures are intended for the general public, friends of the Enrico Fermi Institute, members of the University community, and interested citizens of the Chicago area. They provide a descriptive account of some of the frontiers of present-day science. We don't expect you to have a formal background in mathematics or science, but hope to appeal to your curiosity and to share with you some of the excitement of modern scientific research.
Physics today pushes ahead with new results and ideas that can sound fantastical and bizarre. How can we possibly stand in a lecture hall in Chicago and talk sensibly about the beginning of the universe, or phenomena at impossibly small scales? Anyone, faced with the notions that arise at the frontiers of physics, has the right to ask: "How can you know that?", and "Why should I believe it"? While physics involves some speculation, the major results in the field are always based on concrete observations and down-to-earth reasoning. Most experimental results in physics can be boiled down to detection of a radiation signal, measurement of properties of that signal, and inference using statistics and cross-checks. Therefore, an understanding of the physics of detection and simple statistics can go a long way towards demystifying even the strangest claims in the field. The 67th Compton Lecture Series will tackle the buzzing subatomic world and the physics of radiation detection, using case studies from neutrino physics and cosmology to explore measurement and uncertainty on some of the frontiers of the field.
In these lectures Dr. Schaffer will give a simple introduction to detection and statistical reasoning in physics: the "seeing" and "believing" behind even the most exotic claims about the universe. No scientific background is required. Just bring your curiosity.
The Compton Lecture Luncheon will be held on June 14th. There will be no lecture on Saturday, May 24th (Memorial Day weekend).
