Five new experiments on three topics--muon magnetic moment and lifetime, precision laser spectroscopy, and macroscopic quantum effects: quantized Hall effect, Josephson effects and the flux quantum--are being developed to revitalize the upper-level undergraduate physics laboratories. In these experiments students explore very general concepts, demonstrate important phenomena, measure several fundamental constants, and learn experimental techniques using modern instruments in three areas of physics. Because of continual funding constraints over the past 20 years, the upper-level labs at the University of Virginia have degenerated, and there has been a corresponding decline in student interest and participation in them. The experiments are a part of a major effort to revitalize these labs so that they become again one of the most stimulating and informative parts of the curriculum. When the project is completed, the experiments could be adapted for use at many institutions. This equipment will have a dramatic impact on our undergraduate program for several reasons: (1) The revised curriculum initiated this fall will again have essentially all of the more than 40 third and fourth year physics majors taking the labs for at least three semesters; (2) in the summer the equipment will serve undergraduate students participating in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program; (3) with the completion of a 20,000 sq. ft. addition to the physics building in the spring of 1992, the department has doubled the space designated for the upper-level labs; and (4) there is an increase in the number of physics majors that correlates with aggressive new efforts by the University to recruit undergraduate students with unusual ability in science.
