User:Jake Mokris
I plan on writing a set of user-friendly classes that use ROOT to conduct the data analysis required in the experiments. Links to the macros are forthcoming... for now, here's the base program: media: bla.txt. Obviously you'll want to change the extension to .C; apparently the Wiki doesn't let us upload .C files. I'm teaching myself C++ as I do this, so I imagine my program could be written a bit better. I'll try to comment as much as I can so that what the program is doing makes sense.
I finished writing a program to fit the Franck-Hertz data; here it is: Media:Franck_Hertz_Analysis.txt. Again, change the extension to .C before running the program. I explain how it works in the comments before the code, so here I'll say what the result was: The fit worked better than I expected; however, as the program fits the data to gaussians, the peaks are a small distance from the actual peaks in the data - which is where the energy levels are. So really, the fit is inherently flawed: it doesn't give a good value for the location of the peaks. A fit to skewed gaussians (perhaps to a lognormal distribution) would work better.
Also, since what we're after in the data is the distance between peaks - i.e., the period - taking the Fourier transform of the data might be a good idea. But I haven't worked on that yet, and I don't know much about the actual implementation of a Fourier transform on a discrete data set (though I could tell you all about Schwartz space (which has nothing to do with Spaceballs)).
Finally, here's the link to Petar's [ttp://www.pha.jhu.edu/~c173_608/franck-hertz/root/Franck_Hertz.C Petar's Franck-Hertz macro]Franck-Hertz macro from 2005:
FIRST WITCH
When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
LADY MACBETH
O, never Shall sun that morrow see! Your face, my thane, is as a book where men May read strange matters.
MACBETH
Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, Loyal and neutral, in a moment?
MACBETH
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do?
ALL
A deed without a name.
MACBETH
Thou comest to use thy tongue; thy story quickly.
MESSENGER
Gracious my lord, I should report that which I say I saw, But know not how to do it.