Emeritus Prof. David Bailey

Particle Physics (Experimental)

Uncertainty & Error Analysis, exotic physics, physics education, monte carlo simulation.

e-mail:	dbailey @physics.utoronto.ca
Office:	McLennan Physics Room 919

Address: Physics Department, 60 St. George Street, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 1A7

Research Interests

No scientific measurement is complete without an estimate of its uncertainty, but how accurate are these estimates and what do they they mean? My current research focuses on better understanding scientific uncertainty and error. This interest has grown out of my experience as experimental high energy physicist searching for exotic new physics such leptoquarks, new forces, or millicharged particles. Since there are many more ways to be wrong than to be right, such searches require great care in understanding how mundane errors can mislead us. Even the best made measurements can be wrong, so occasional outliers are an unavoidable consequence of scientific progress: new methods often reveal previously unrecognized errors or introduce new unknown biases of their own.

Teaching is meaningless if it doesn't help students learn, so I have a strong interest in Physics Education Research, especially in how to best help students learn the skills of a physicist.

It is important that everyone has the opportunity to share the power and joy of science, so I continue to be involved in outreach programs such as Pursue STEM.

Publications

Why OUTLIERS are good for science, Significance magazine 15 (6 February 2018) p.14-19.
Not Normal: the uncertainties of scientific measurements, Royal Society Open Science 4 (2017) 160600.
Older publications from earlier experiments: ATLAS at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, ZEUS at DESY, SDC at SSC, ASTERIX at LEAR, and E531 at Fermilab.

Teaching

My favourite example of why teaching matters is "The Amazing Miss A".

Past Teaching

Advanced Physics Laboratory - PHY 327/424/426/427/428/429 F/S
Electricity & Magnetism - PHY 251S
Electromagnetism - PHY 250Y
Electronics Lab - PHY405S
Elementary Particle Physics - PHY 337S
Engineering Science Physics Option Chair
Experimental High Energy Physics - PHY 2405F
High Energy Physics I - PHY 454S
Introduction to High Energy Physics - PHY 489/1489S
Nuclear and Particle Physics - PHY 357S
POPTOR (Physics Olympiad Training Program)
Principles of Physics - UTM PHY 140Y
Second Year Lab - PHY 225H, 280F/281S (Lab)
SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships)
Third Year Lab - UTM PHY 324S

Partial List of Administrative Positions

Pursue STEM Co-founder and Faculty lead (2020 - current)
Physics Department Outreach Committee Chair (2017-2022)
Institute of Particle Physics Trustee (2014-2017)
University of Toronto Faculty Association Council Member for Physics and Astronomy (2010-2016)
Chair of the Engineering Science Physics Option(2002-09, 2015-16, 2017-20)
Primary grantee for Institute of Particle Physics NSERC grant (2005-2015)
Associate Chair for Graduate Studies (2013-2014)
Secretary/Treasurer of the Institute of Particle Physics (2005-2014)
Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies (2002-2009)