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Upper-Division Courses
Below are listed the various upper-division courses that are regularly offered by the Department. Please note that not all courses are offered during a given semester; check with the Registrar or with your advisor for scheduling and other information.
Conceptual foundations of modern physics. Examines quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, relativity, and general relativity, including large-scale structure and cosmology; and the development of analytic problem-solving skills, including estimation.
Students are required to attend at least one problem session a week.
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing. Restricted to Plan II students.
Computational methods for problem solving and research in physics; numerical analysis and computer simulation methods for physics applications using different types of computers.
Only one of the following may be counted: Computer Science 367, Mathematics 368K, or Physics 329.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L; a programming course at the level of Computer Science 303E or consent of instructor; and credit or registration for Mathematics 341 or 340L.
This course covers the work period of physics students in the Cooperative Education Program, which provides supervised work experience by arrangement with the employer and the supervising instructor.
Forty laboratory hours a week for one semester. The student must repeat the course each work period and must take it twice to receive credit toward the degree; at least one of these registrations must be during a long-session semester.
No more than three semester hours may be counted toward the major requirement; no more than six semester hours may be counted toward the degree. The student’s first registration must be on the pass/fail basis.
Prerequisites
Application to become a member of the Cooperative Physics Program; Physics 316; and consent of the undergraduate advisor.
Review of geometrical optics, polarization, interference, and optical instruments. Topics include Fourier optics, light propagation in fibers, quantum optics, and coherence.
Meets with EE 347.
Prerequisites
Physics 315, 115L, and Mathematics 427K.
Three laboratory hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites
Credit or registration for Physics 333.
Elementary linear vector algebra, Newtonian mechanics, Lagrangian mechanics, central force motion, dynamics of rigid bodies, and theory of small oscillations.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L, and Mathematics 427L or 364K.
Fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics developed and applied to laminar and turbulent flows. Topics include the Navier-Stokes equations, pipe and channel flow, drag, boundary layers, convection, and rotating fluids.
Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites
Physics 336K.
Elementary circuit theory, amplifiers, feedback, pulse and digital techniques, signal processing, and microprocessors as applied to physics instrumentation.
Prerequisites
Physics 316 and 116L and Mathematics 427K.
May not be counted toward the Bachelor of Science in Physics degree without prior approval of the department.
May be counted toward the writing flag requirement. May be counted toward the quantitative reasoning flag requirement. May be counted toward the independent inquiry flag requirement.
Additional hour(s) to be arranged. Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Meets with BIO 337 (topic 2) and CH 368 (topic 1).
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing, three semester hours of coursework in a natural science, and three semester hours of coursework in mathematics.
Study of a variety of ideas treated very seriously by the communications media but having no basis in fact, including astrology, extrasensory perception, and flying saucers; why such areas are not part of science.
May not be counted toward the Bachelor of Science in Physics degree without prior approval of the department.
Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing, three semester hours of coursework in a natural science, and three semester hours of coursework in mathematics.
Basic concepts of physics developed and applied to biological systems. Topics include energy in living systems, entropic interactions, molecular forces and self-assembly, biopolymers, bio-membranes, cell–cell interactions, pattern formation, collective behavior, higher order systems, population dynamics, and evolution. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing, Biology 311D, Chemistry 302, and Physics 355.
Electrostatic fields, magnetostatic fields, derivation of Green’s theorems and functions and of Maxwell’s equations.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L, and Mathematics 427L or 364K.
Breakdown of classical physics for microscopic phenomena; absorption and emission spectra, the photoelectric effect, blackbody radiation, models of the atom, Compton effect, X-ray diffraction; Planck’s hypothesis; deBroglie’s hypothesis; the probability interpretation; the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation; special relativity; the uncertainty relation.
Three lecture hours and three laboratory hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L, or consent of instructor.
Laboratory experiments investigating the breakdown of classical physics for microscopic phenomena. Includes absorption and emission spectra, the photoelectric effect, blackbody radiation, the Compton effect, X-ray diffraction, and other experiments in modern physics.
May be counted toward the writing flag requirement.
Additional hour(s) to be arranged.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L.
Introduction to modern physics and thermodynamics: photons (spectra, photoelectric effect, blackbody radiation, Compton effect), atoms (Rutherford, Bohr), matter waves (Planck, deBroglie, probability interpretation, Schroedinger), nuclei, particles, special relativity, the laws of thermodynamics, and statistical physics.
Physics 319 and 355 may not both be counted.
Prerequisites
Physics 315 and 115L, or consent of instructor.
The two-electron atom; spin and statistics; coupling schemes for many-electron atoms; atoms and the radiation field; perturbation methods for decay and collisions; thermal, electrical, and magnetic properties of solids; free-electron metal and band theory; if time permits, selected topics such as superconductivity, Josephson tunneling, and others.
Prerequisites
Physics 373.
Nuclei and nucleons, their gross properties; the hadrons; symmetries and conservation laws; nuclear stability; electromagnetic, weak, and hadronic interactions; nuclear reactions at low, medium, and high energies; nucleon structure; tools of experimental nuclear physics; models of theoretical nuclear physics; nuclear technology.
Prerequisites
Physics 373; Physics 362K is recommended.
Basic concepts of thermal physics; entropy, enthalpy, free energy, phase transitions, equilibrium distribution functions, applications.
Prerequisites
Credit or registration for Physics 373.
Supervised reading or research in physics. Some sections are offered on the pass/fail basis only; these are identified in the Course Schedule.
Course number may be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
A list of instructors available to supervise students is posted in RLM 5.216.
Prerequisites
Physics 336K, credit or registration for Physics 352K, and consent of the undergraduate advisor.
Individual research with faculty supervision. First half involves preparation of proposal; second involves completion of written thesis. Only three semester hours may be counted toward the Bachelor of Science in Physics degree.
Student’s selection of senior thesis adviser must be filed in the undergraduate office, RLM 5.216.
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing and nine semester hours of upper-division coursework in physics.
Individual research with faculty supervision. First half involves preparation of proposal; second involves completion of written thesis. Only three semester hours may be counted toward the Bachelor of Science in Physics degree.
Prerequisites
Upper-division standing and nine semester hours of upper-division coursework in physics.
Modern experimental techniques, theory of error, and analysis of experiments; both modern and classical experiments in atomic and nuclear physics, electricity and magnetism, optics and heat.
With consent of instructor, may be repeated for credit.
May be counted toward the writing flag requirement. May be counted toward the quantitative reasoning flag requirement. May be counted toward the independent inquiry flag requirement.
Additional laboratory hours to be arranged.
Prerequisites
Physics 338K and 352K, and 353L and 355 (or 453); or consent of the undergraduate advisor.
Orbit theory and drifts, introduction to plasma stability and waves, applications to plasma confinement and heating.
Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites
Physics 352K and 369.
Overview of the special and general theories of relativity, with emphasis on recent developments in gravitation.
Prerequisites
Physics 352K.
Crystal structure, classification of solids, cohesion, thermal and electrical properties of solids, magnetic properties of solids, imperfections.
Prerequisites
Physics 369 and 373.
Research project, resulting in a thesis, for outstanding students electing to take the honors program in physics.
May be counted toward the writing flag requirement.
Prerequisites
A University grade point average of at least 3.00, a grade point average in physics of at least 3.50, twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in physics, and consent of the student’s research supervisor and the departmental honors advisor.