Byron P. Roe

Probability and Statistics in Experimental Physics - Undergraduate Texts in Contemporary Physics Byron P. Roe Softcover reprint of the original 2nd ed. 2001 edition

Marc Notes: 8; Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this is a practical guide to the use of probability and statistics in experimental physics. The emphasis is on applications and understanding, on theorems and techniques actually used in research. Review Quotes: From the reviews of the second edition: "This book is the second edition of a practical introduction into probability and statistics in experimental physics. The book is primarily written for undergraduate and graduate students and contains a new chapter on queueing theory and an additional discussion of the Feldman-Cousins unified method for estimating confidence intervals." (Ulrich Horst, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1011, 2003) "The book under review is rather unconventional in many respects, in particular concerning the choice of covered topics and the style of presentation. Its main goal is to provide the reader with techniques actually used in experimental research. They are illustrated by a series of worked problems. some material is included that one hardly finds in other books of this kind, like elements of queuing theory . many experimental physicists would appreciate probably to have a copy of this book within hand-reach." (F. Binon, Physicalia, Vol. 38 (5), 2002) Description for Sales People: This book is intended as a practical guide for advanced undergraduates to the use of probability and statistics in experimental physics. The emphasis is on applications and understanding, on techniques that are used in experimental physics, and on the use of computers. This second edition includes a new chapter on queuing problems (such as, how large a buffer does one need deal with a random stream of data), and it introduces a new method for dealing with experiments in which only a few events are observed. Table of Contents: Preface. 1 Basic Probability Concepts. 2 Some Initial Definitions. 3 Some Results of Specific Distributions. 4 Discrete Distributions and Combinatorials,5. Specific Discrete Distributions. 6 The Normal (or Gaussian) Distribution and Other Continuous Distributions. 7 Generating Functions and Characteristic Functions. 8 The Monte Carlo Method: Computer Simulation of Experiments. 9 Queueing Theory and Other Probability Questions. 10 Two Dimensional and Multi-Dimensional Distributions.,11. The Central Limit Theorem. 12 Inverse Probability; Confidence Limits. 13 Methods for Estimating Parameters. Least Squares and Maximum Likelihood. 14 Curve Fitting. 15 Bartlett S Function; Estimating Likelihood Ratios Needed for an Experiment. 16 Interpolating Functions and Unfolding Problems. 17 Fitting Data with Correlations and Constraints. 18 Beyond Maximum Likelihood and Least Squares; Robust Methods, ReferenceReview Quotes: From the reviews of the second edition: "This book is the second edition of a practical introduction into probability and statistics in experimental physics. The book is primarily written for undergraduate and graduate students and contains a new chapter on queueing theory and an additional discussion of the Feldman-Cousins unified method for estimating confidence intervals." (Ulrich Horst, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1011, 2003) "The book under review is rather unconventional in many respects, in particular concerning the choice of covered topics and the style of presentation. Its main goal is to provide the reader with techniques actually used in experimental research. They are illustrated by a series of worked problems. some material is included that one hardly finds in other books of this kind, like elements of queuing theory . many experimental physicists would appreciate probably to have a copy of this book within hand-reach." (F. Binon, Physicalia, Vol. 38 (5), 2002)"Publisher Marketing: Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this is a practical guide to the use of probability and statistics in experimental physics. The emphasis is on applications and understanding, on theorems and techniques actually used in research.