Experimental physics

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Within the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines which use direct means of observation of physical phenomena in order to obtain data about the universe. The similar goal of all these disciplines is to collect and explain the data which is gathered. The methods vary, from simple experiments and observations to more complicated ones, such as the LHC.

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[edit] Overview

Experimental physics regroup all the disciplines of physics that are concerned with data-acquisition, data-acquisition methods, and the detailed conceptualization (that goes beyond simple thought experiments) and realization of laboratory experiments . It is often put in contrast with theoretical physics, which is more concerned with predicting and explaining the physical behaviour of nature than the acquisition of knowledge about it.

Although experimental and theoretical physics are concerned with different aspects of nature, they both share the same goal of understanding it and naturally have a symbiotic relation. The former provides data about the universe, which can then be analyzed in order to be understood, while the latter provides explanations for the data and thus offers insight on how to better acquire data and on how to built experiment, and also offers insight on what data is needed in order to gain a better understanding of the universe and what experiments to built in order to obtain it.

[edit] Current experiments

Part of the LHC at CERN, an experimental endeavor
Part of the LHC at CERN, an experimental endeavor

Some examples of prominent experimental physics projects are:

  • LHC, or the Large Hadron Collider, which is currently under construction. The LHC will is scheduled to begin operation in 2008 and will be the world's most energetic collider upon completion, it is located at CERN, on the French-Swiss border near Geneva.
  • JWST, or the James Webb Space Telescope, is planned for launch in 2013. It will be the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will survey the sky in the infrared region. The main goals of the JWST will be in order to understand the initial stages of the universe, galaxy formation as well as the formations of stars and planets, and the origins of life.

[edit] Method

Main article: Experiment

Experimental physics uses two main methods of experimental research, controlled experiments, and natural experiments. Controlled experiments are often used in laboratories as laboratories can offer a controlled environment. Natural experiments are used, for example, in astrophysics when observing celestial objects where control of the variables in effect is impossible.

[edit] Experimentalists

Main article: List of experimental physicists

Experimentalists are scientists who engage in experimental physics research or study a field contained within the category of experimental physics. Many early experimentalists were/are also theoretical physicists. Some of the more notable experimental physicists were/are Alhazen, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Ernst Mach, Ernest Rutherford, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Antoine Henri Becquerel, Marie Curie, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, Sir Joseph John Thomson, Max von Laue, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Albert Abraham Michelson, Robert Andrews Millikan, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, William Lawrence Bragg, Enrico Fermi, Ernest Orlando Lawrence, William Bradford Shockley, and John Bardeen.

[edit] Timelines

See the timelines below for listings of physics experiments.

[edit] See also