Department: Physics

Code Name Description
PHYS 121 Astronomy with Lab Celestial motions, stellar structure, cosmology, and related problems including appropriate concepts of elementary physics. Not among the recommended options for science or math majors. Includes laboratory.
PHYS 123 Renewable Energy with Lab Principles of physics applied to renewable energy technologies. Topics selected from climate, geothermal energy, solar thermal energy, solar photovoltaics, hydroelectricity, wind energy, tidal power and wave energy, and bioenergy. Includes laboratory...
PHYS 125 Elements of Physics with Lab Principles and applications of physics. Topics selected from mechanics, sound, light, electricity, magnetism, heat, and modern physics. Not among the recommended options for science or math majors. Includes laboratory.
PHYS 127 Algebra-Based General Physics 1 with Lab First of a two semester sequence in general physics. Topics for Physics 127 include kinematics, forces, conservation of momentum, work and energy, rotational motion, and oscillations. Includes laboratory. NOTE: Physics 127 is not a prerequisite to 12...
PHYS 128 Algebra-Based General Physics 2 with Lab Second semester of a two semester sequence in general physics. Topics for Physics 128 include electricity and magnetism, heat and thermodynamics, and wave optics. Includes laboratory. NOTE: A student may not receive credit for both Physics 132 and 12...
PHYS 131 Calculus-Based General Physics 1 with Lab First semester of a calculus-based introductory sequence. Topics for Physics 131 include kinematics, forces, conservation of momentum, work and energy, rotational motion, and oscillations. Includes laboratory. NOTE: A student may not receive credit f...
PHYS 132 Calculus-Based General Physics 2 with Lab Second semester of a calculus-based introductory sequence. Topics for Physics 132 include electricity and magnetism, heat and thermodynamics, and wave optics. Includes laboratory. NOTE: A student may not receive credit for both Physics 132 and 128. A...
PHYS 201 Einstein's Relativity Focuses primarily on special relativity as it relates to time, space, velocity, momentum, and energy. This course is identical to the first half of PHYS 205, and meets concurrently with it for the first 7 weeks of the semester. Students may not earn...
PHYS 202 Particle/Wave Duality and the Quantum Revolution Introduces ideas of particle/wave duality that are central to understanding quantum mechanics, a major revolution in early 20th century physics. This course is identical to the second half of PHYS 205, and meets concurrently with it for the second 7...
PHYS 204 Biophysics Application of physical law to the biological sciences. Introduces selected concepts and experiments in the field of biophysics. Topics may include but are not limited to diffusion, cell signaling, molecular binding, and computational biophysics.
PHYS 205 Introduction to Modern Physics Introduction to topics in 20th-century physics including special relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics. The first half of this course is identical to, and meets concurrently with, PHYS 201. The second half of this course is exactly i...
PHYS 215 Computational Methods in Physics Uses Mathematica software to introduce students to computational techniques used to solve physics problems, basic programming skills, and analysis of computational data. The course consists of a combination of lectures and computational labs. Comput...
PHYS 216 Electronics Laboratory Laboratory course in basic electronics and instrumentation for the sciences and engineering. Study of DC and AC circuits, resistors, capacitors, inductors, filters, diodes, rectifiers, transistors, operational amplifiers, Boolean algebra and logic, d...
PHYS 221 Intermediate Laboratory Experiments in classical and modern physics emphasizing independent work. Six laboratory hours per week.
PHYS 231 Optics Laboratory Focuses on optics. Includes the study of (1) ray optics: lenses, system of lenses, lens aberrations (2) scalar wave optics: diffraction, interference (3) polarization of light: states of polarization, polarizers, wave retarders. Emphasizes the relati...
PHYS 250 Cosmology Application of physics to contemporary understanding of the structure, evolution, and origin of the Universe as a whole. Topics include observational evidence for the Hot Big Bang cosmological model, dark matter, dark energy, and the physics of the e...
PHYS 260 Mathematical Methods in Physics Selected mathematical topics needed for upper-level work in physics. Topics taken from vector calculus, matrices, calculus of variations, orthogonal functions, and complex analysis.
PHYS 303 Classical Mechanics Mathematical analysis of physical laws pertaining to dynamics of particles and rigid bodies. Introduction to moving coordinate systems and Lagrange's and Hamilton's methods.
PHYS 305 Electricity and Magnetism A full treatment of electrostatics (electric field and potential, and Gauss' law), magnetism, electric and magnetic fields in matter, and induced fields, as well as a brief introduction to electromagnetic waves. A particular focus will be on solving...
PHYS 306 Electricity and Magnetism 2 Selected advanced topics in electromagnetism, including electromagnetic waves in materials, guided waves, radiation, and relativistic electrodynamics.
PHYS 308 Statistical Physics and Thermodynamics Statistical methods applied to description of physical systems. Statistical calculation of thermodynamic quantities, laws of thermodynamics, statistical distributions, and classical and quantum statistics of ideal gases. (Same as Chemistry 308.)
PHYS 309 Quantum Mechanics Wave mechanics and quantization; Schroedinger equation for variety of potentials; hydrogen atom in detail; perturbation methods. (Same as Chemistry 401.)
PHYS 310 Quantum Mechanics 2 Wave mechanics and quantization; Schroedinger equation for variety of potentials; hydrogen atom in detail; perturbation methods. (Same as Chemistry 401.)
PHYS 381 Research Laboratory or independent study. 0.5 units requires six hours per week. Available for 0, .25, or .5 units. May be taken multiple times, up to a maximum of 2.0 units.
PHYS 397 Junior Seminar 1 Required of all third-year physics majors. Does not count in units required for minor.
PHYS 398 Junior Seminar 2 Required of all third-year physics majors. Does not count in units required for minor.
PHYS 406 Summer Undergraduate Research Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 6 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at leas...
PHYS 479 Special Topics Topics include particle and nuclear physics, solid state, modern optics, relativity, field theory.
PHYS 497 Senior Seminar 1 Required of all senior physics majors. Does not count in units required for minor.
PHYS 498 Senior Seminar 2 Required of all senior physics majors. Does not count in units required for minor.