Physics Open Data Analysis
8 weeks · 0 milestones
Analyse a named real publicly available physics dataset from a recognised source: CERN Open Data Portal, NASA Exoplanet Archive, IPAC Infrared Science Archive, Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), LIGO Open Science Center gravitational wave data, or equivalent. Document the full analysis methodology: data source and version, preprocessing steps, statistical analysis with appropriate tests, results with uncertainty quantification, and conclusions with physical interpretation. The proof is the analysis report plus the code or documented methodology sufficient for independent reproducibility. Real physics datasets contain real measurement noise, real systematic effects, and real signal-to-noise challenges — rigorous analysis of them produces artifacts of equal scientific value to lab-collected data. Reviewed by a physicist who challenges your interpretation of uncertainty in the results and asks whether alternative explanations for the observed pattern are consistent with the data.
Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Identify a specific physics research question and select an appropriate freely available open dataset to address it. Physics open data sources are high-quality and freely accessible: CERN Open Data provides real particle physics collision data; LIGO Open Science Center provides gravitational wave detection data; NASA datasets cover astrophysics and space physics; SDSS provides astronomical survey data. The analytical question must be answerable from the dataset.
Proof required
Submit your physics research question (a specific, quantitative question that the dataset can address), your selected dataset with its source URL, download or access method, and a description of the dataset's physical content (what physical process generated the data, what quantities are measured, what the units are, and the relevant range of parameters).
What gets checked
- Research question is quantitative and specific — not 'analyse the CERN data' but 'test whether the Higgs boson decay products show the expected invariant mass peak in the CERN Dimuon run from the CMS Open Data portal'
- Dataset is from an authoritative open physics source — CERN Open Data, LIGO Open Science Center, NASA, SDSS, or equivalent; not secondary summaries but the primary experimental data
- Physical content is described at the level of the observable measured — what detector, what physical process, what measurement resolution, what systematic effects are documented