Graduate Courses

Physics Graduate Courses

Course List

PHYS 601 Analytical Mechanics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Hamilton approaches to dynamics; canonical transformation and variational techniques; central force and rigid body motions; the mechanics of small oscillations and continuous
Prerequisites: PHYS 302 or equivalent; MATH 311 and MATH 412 or equivalents; concurrent registration in PHYS 615.

PHYS 603 Electromagnetic Theory

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Boundary-value problems in electrostatics; basic magnetostatics; multipoles; elementary treatment of ponderable media; Maxwell's equations for time-varying fields; energy and momentum of electromagnetic field; Poynting's theorem; gauge
Prerequisites: PHYS 304 or equivalents; PHYS 615.

PHYS 606 Quantum Mechanics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Schrodinger wave equation, bound states of simple systems, collision theory, representation and expansion theory, matrix formulation, perturbation
Prerequisites: PHYS 412 or equivalent; MATH 311 and MATH 412 or equivalents; concurrent registration in PHYS 615.

PHYS 607 Statistical Mechanics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Classical statistical mechanics, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, and equipartition theorem; quantum statistical mechanics, Bose-Einstein distribution and Fermi-Dirac distribution; applications such as polyatomic gases, blackbody radiation, free electron model for metals, Debye model of vibrations in solids, ideal quantum mechanical gases and Bose-Einstein condensation; if time permits, phase transitions and nonequilibrium statistical
Prerequisites: PHYS 408 and PHYS 412 or equivalents; PHYS 615.

PHYS 611 Electromagnetic Theory

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Continuation of PHYS 603Propagation, reflection and refraction of electromagnetic waves; wave guides and cavities; interference and diffraction; simple radiating systems; dynamics of relativistic particles and fields; radiation by moving
Prerequisite: PHYS 603.

PHYS 615 Methods of Theoretical Physics I

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Orthogonal eigenfunctions with operator and matrix methods applied to solutions of the differential and integral equations of mathematical physics; contour integration, asymptotic expansions of Fourier transforms, the method of stationary phase and generalized functions applied to problems in quantum
Prerequisites: MATH 311, MATH 407 and MATH 412 or equivalents.

PHYS 616 Methods of Theoretical Physics II

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Group theory and its implementation in physical systems; finite groups, Lie groups and Lie algebras; representation theory, symmetries of regular objects, global aspects of Lie groups and classification of Lie
Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or approval of instructor.

PHYS 617 Physics of the Solid State

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Crystalline structure and symmetry operations; electronic properties in the free electron model with band effects included; lattice vibrations and phonons; thermal properties; additional topics selected by the instructor from: scattering of X-rays, electrons, and neutrons, electrical and thermal transport, magnetism, superconductivity, defects, semiconductor devices, dielectrics, optical
Prerequisites: PHYS 606 and PHYS 607.

PHYS 619 Modern Computational Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Modern computational methods with emphasis on simulation such as molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo; applications to condensed matter and nuclear many-body physics and to lattice gauge
Prerequisites: PHYS 408 and PHYS 412 or equivalents; knowledge of any programming language.

PHYS 624 Quantum Mechanics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Continuation of PHYS 606Scattering theory, second quantization, angular momentum theory, approximation methods, application to atomic and nuclear systems, semi-classical radiation
Prerequisite: PHYS 606.

PHYS 625 Nuclear Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Nuclear models, nuclear spectroscopy, nuclear reactions, electromagnetic properties of nuclei; topics of current
Prerequisite: PHYS 606.

PHYS 626 Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Theoretical foundations of modern nuclear physics; quantum chromodynamics and properties; confinement; chiral symmetry and breaking; quark model and hadron structure; nuclear forces; many-body theory and effective field theory; fundamental symmetries; nuclear reactions and nuclear astrophysics; nuclear collisions and nuclear matter at high temperatures and densities; spectral functions and transport
Prerequisite: PHYS 606, 615, and 625, or equivalent.

PHYS 627 Elementary Particle Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Fundamentals of elementary particle physics; particle classification, symmetry principles, relativistic kinematics and quark models; basics of strong, electromagnetic and weak
Prerequisite: PHYS 606.

PHYS 631 Quantum Theory of Solids

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Second quantization, and topics such as plasmons; many-body effects for electrons; electron-phonon interaction; magnetism and magnons; other elementary excitations in solids; BCS theory of superconductivity; interactions of radiation with matter; transport theory in
Prerequisites: PHYS 617 and PHYS 624.

PHYS 632 Condensed Matter Theory

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Continuation of PHYS 631Recent topics in condensed matterPeierl's Instability, Metal-Insulator transition in one-dimensional conductors, solitons, fractionally charged excitations, topological excitations, Normal and Anomalous Quantum Hall Effect, Fractional Statistics, Anyons, Theory of High Temperature Superconductors, Deterministic
Prerequisites: PHYS 601, PHYS 617 and PHYS 624.

PHYS 634 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Classical scalar, vector and Dirac fields; second quantization; scattering matrix and perturbation theory; dispersion relations;
Prerequisite: PHYS 624.

PHYS 638 Quantum Field Theory II

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Functional integrals; divergences, regularization and renormalization; non-abelian gauge theories; other topics of current
Prerequisite: PHYS 634.

PHYS 639 Methods of Experimental Particle Physics

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours Methods of particle detection and data analysis techniques in experimental particle physics; computational and statistical methods in modern research; next challenges in experimental particle physics; use of statistical and computational techniques, Monte Carlo simulation methods, presenting and documenting scientific findings using
Prerequisites: PHYS 305 and PHYS 412; working knowledge of C or C++; or approval of instructor.

PHYS 641/ASTR 601 Extragalactic Astronomy

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Overview of observations of galaxies and large-scale structures in the Universe to understand their formation and evolution from theoretical and observational perspectives; galaxy luminosity functions; evolution of stellar populations and chemical enrichment; clusters and
Prerequisites: PHYS 601; or ASTR 314 and PHYS 302; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 601/PHYS 641.

PHYS 642/ASTR 602 Astronomical Observing Techniques and Instrumentation

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Theory and practice of obtaining and analyzing astrometric, photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric measurements of astronomical sources across the electromagnetic spectrum; principles of design, fabrication, assembly, test, deployment, and use of astronomical
Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or equivalent; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 602/PHYS 642.

PHYS 643/ASTR 603 Stellar Astrophysics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Theoretical and observational aspects of stellar astrophysics; thermodynamic properties of stellar interiors; energy sources; nuclear processes and burning stages; convective and radiative energy transport; evolutionary models; atmospheres; stability and pulsations; chemical enrichment processes; population
Prerequisites: PHYS 606 and PHYS 607 or equivalents; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 603/PHYS 643.

PHYS 644/ASTR 604 Cosmology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Basic principles of modern cosmology and particle physics; general relativity; cosmic inflation; Big Bang nucleosynthesis; expansion of the universe; cosmic microwave background; large-scale structure of the Universe; properties of particles; dark matter; dark
Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or equivalent; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 604/PHYS 644.

PHYS 645/ASTR 605 Galactic Astronomy

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Basic nature and structure of constituents of Milky Way galaxy; distribution and motions of stars and gas; origin evolution and distribution of large-scale chemical abundances and kinematic patterns across populations; models of galaxy formation and implications of modern
Prerequisites: PHYS 601 and PHYS 607 or equivalents; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 605/PHYS 645.

PHYS 646/ASTR 606 Radiative Transfer

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Fundamental radiative processes in stellar and planetary atmospheres; radiative fields; Stokes parameters; Mueller matrix formalism; radiation from moving charges; Compton scattering; plasma effects; atomic structure and radiative transitions; molecular structure and spectra; multiple
Prerequisites: PHYS 302, PHYS 304, PHYS 408, and PHYS 412 or equivalents; or approval of instructor. Cross Listing: ASTR 606/PHYS 646.

PHYS 647 Gravitational Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Special relativity; equivalence principle; theory of gravitation; Einstein’s theory of general relativity; classic tests of general relativity; simple black hole and cosmological solutions; global aspects; penrose diagrams; stationary black holes; Hawking
Prerequisites: PHYS 611 and PHYS 615.

PHYS 648 Quantum Optics and Laser Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Line widths of spectral lines; laser spectroscopy; optical cooling; trapping of atoms and ions; coherence; pico- and femto-second spectroscopy; spectroscopic
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PHYS 649 Physics of Optoelectronic Devices

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Overview of basic concepts: laser physics, optics of semiconductors, heterostructures with quantum confinement and their interaction with light; physical principles of state of the art optoelectronic devices; emerging concepts and technologies: integrated photonics, nanophotonics, plasmonics, metamaterials, terahertz optoelectronics, quantum information processing,
Prerequisites: Quantum mechanics (PHYS 412 and PHYS 414 or PHYS 606 or equivalent).

PHYS 651 Superstring Theory I

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Basics of string theory, including bosonic string, conformal field theory, strings with worldsheet and space-time supersymmetry, as well as the higher dimensional extended objects called D-
Prerequisites: PHYS 634 and PHYS 653; PHYS 647 recommended.

PHYS 652 Superstring Theory II

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours M-theory unification of superstring theories into a single eleven-dimensional theory; duality symmetries relating string theories; string geometry; Calabi-Yau manifolds and exceptional holonomy manifolds; flux compactifcations; black holes in string theory; AdS/CFT correspondence; string and M-theory
Prerequisites: PHYS 651; PHYS 647 recommended.

PHYS 653 Introduction to Supersymmetry and Supergravity

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Core material on supersymmetric field theories and their coupling to supergravity
Prerequisite: PHYS 634.

PHYS 654 The Standard Model and Beyond

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours The standard model of particle physics in detail; general principles of gauge theories, including spontaneous breaking and applications to Electro-Weak Interactions and Quantum Chromodynamics; extension of the standard model involving Grand Unified Theories (GUT), Supersymmetry (SUSY) and Supergravity (SUGRA)
Prerequisites: PHYS 624 and PHYS 634.

PHYS 655 String Phenomenology

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Physical applications of string theory; rudiments of string theory; compactification of extreme dimensions in string theory; free-fermionic formulation; dualities, M-theory, intersection D-Branes, and D-Brane phenomenology; model
Prerequisites: PHYS 634 and PHYS 651.

PHYS 661 Superfluidity and Superconductivity

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Basic properties of superconductors, superfluid 4He and superfluid 3He; Bose Einstein condensation, BCS theory and Ginzburg-Landau theory; methods of achieving low temperatures, with labSpecial topics include broken symmetry, neutron stars, ultra-cold atomic gases and tunneling in
Prerequisite: PHYS 408, PHYS 412, and PHYS 414, or equivalents.

PHYS 666 Scientific Instrument Making

Credits 3. 2 Lecture Hours. 2 Lab Hours Theory and techniques for designing and constructing advanced scientific instruments such as spectrometers, cryostats, vacuum systems,; mechanical and electronic shop procedures utilizing the lathe and mill; welding and soldering; drafting and print reading; circuit
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PHYS 671 Ultrafast Laser Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Ultrafast optics; nonlinear optics; laser physics; active and passive mode-locking; pulse characterization and shaping; applications in industry and research such as time-resolved spectroscopy, coherent control, terahertz spectroscopy, and high-order harmonic
Prerequisites: PHYS 304, PHYS 305, PHYS 221 and PHYS 412, or equivalents.

PHYS 672 Nonlinear Optics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Foundation for evolving areas of science and industry; phenomena of nonlinear optics; relevant areas of physics, nonlinear science, and engineering; material requirements; approaches to solving Maxwell's equations in the presence of nonlinear polarization; quantum mechanical descriptions of nonlinear optics
Prerequisites: PHYS 414; PHYS 305; PHYS 221; graduate classification or approval of instructor.

PHYS 673 Laser Physics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Absorption and emission of light; optical cavities; molecular spectroscopy; photoelectron spectroscopy; mass
Prerequisites: Graduate classification or approval of instructor.

PHYS 674/ECEN 674 Introduction to Quantum Computing

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours Introduces the quantum mechanics, quantum gates, quantum circuits and quantum hardware of potential quantum computers; algorithms, potential uses, complexity classes, and evaluation of coherence of these
Prerequisites: MATH 304; PHYS 208. Cross Listing: ECEN 674/PHYS 674.

PHYS 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Subjects of current importance; normally required of all graduate students in

PHYS 684 Professional Internship

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Other Hours An experience in a physics-related setting that provides the student with the opportunity for engaged learning through professional involvement and professionalMay be taken for credit up to fourMust be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory
Prerequisites: Approval of instructor; graduate classification.

PHYS 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 9. 1 to 9 Other Hours Individual problems not related to
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PHYS 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours. 0 to 4 Lab Hours Selected topics in an identified area ofMay be repeated for
Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

PHYS 691 Research

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours Research toward thesis or
Prerequisite: Baccalaureate degree in physics or equivalent.

Astronomy Graduate Courses

Course List

ASTR 600 Order-of-Magnitude Astrophysics

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Introduction to the utility of order of magnitude calculations and the ability to think intuitively; short overviews of basic physical concepts followed by interactive activities and problem solving at theMay be repeated for
Prerequisite: ASTR 314 or equivalent, or approval of instructor.

ASTR 601/PHYS 641 Extragalactic Astronomy

ASTR 602/PHYS 642 Astronomical Observing Techniques and Instrumentation

ASTR 603/PHYS 643 Stellar Astrophysics

ASTR 604/PHYS 644 Cosmology

ASTR 605/PHYS 645 Galactic Astronomy

ASTR 606/PHYS 646 Radiative Transfer

ASTR 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour. Subjects of current importance; normally required of all graduate students inMay be repeated for

ASTR 684 Professional Internship

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Other Hours An experience in an astronomy-related setting that provides the student with the opportunity for engaged learning through professional involvement and professional supervision; may be taken for credit up to four hours; must be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory
Prerequisites: Approval of instructor; graduate classification.