Preparation for PHY 107-PHY 108 or PHY 101-PHY 102, emphasizing on math skills and application to simple physics problems. Reviews algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus (optional and not tested) as applied to physics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Presents non-calculus, introductory physics, including mechanics, heat, waves, and sound. This course is a controlled enrollment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade other than W may only repeat the course in the summer or winter. Repeating in the fall or spring semester can be requested with a petition to the CAS Deans' Office.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Other Requisites: Enrollment is not allowed in PHY 101 if a student has current enrollment in PHY 107.

Presents non-calculus, introductory physics, including electricity and magnetism, light, optics, and modern physics.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 101 or PHY 107 or PHY 117

A calculus-based introductory course primarily for chemistry, engineering, and physics majors. Covers kinematics, Newton's laws, energy, momentum, rotational motion, and oscillations.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Other Requisites: Enrollment is not allowed in PHY 107 if a student has current enrollment in PHY 101.

A calculus based introductory course primarily for chemistry, engineering, and physics majors. Covers the electric field, Gauss' law, electric potential, capacitance, DC circuits, RC circuits, magnetic field, Faraday's law, inductance, LR circuits, AC circuits, and Maxwell's equations.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 107 or PHY 117

Studies views of space, time, and matter in the ancient world; European post-Renaissance, nineteenth-century ideas and discoveries; wave-particle dualism; wave mechanics; Copenhagen school; theory of relativity; and problems of matter, radiation, and cosmology.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Covers the same topics as PHY 107, but in greater depth. This course is intended for potential physics majors, students in the Honors College, and advanced students in other majors (with permission from the instructor). It is especially appropriate for students who have taken AP Physics C in high school. It will cover similar topics as PHY 107 but with several significant differences. The class will be taught at a level comfortable for students who would receive a B or higher in a typical PHY 107 class. Because of the higher average GPA of students in this class, grading will be adjusted to reflect this quality, rather than following the conventional curves used for PHY 107. Introductory materials, such as review of trigonometry, vectors and calculus, in PHY 107 will not be covered. This leaves room to expose students to a wider range of interesting applications of Newtonian mechanics, and recent developments in topics such as relativity and cosmology. The class size is limited, to encourage interactive learning and communications between students and the instructor.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Other Requisites: Enrollment is not allowed in PHY 117 if a student has current enrollment in PHY 107.

Covers the same topics as PHY 108, but in greater depth. Class size is limited. In general, taken by students in the University Honors College, but other students may take it with permission of instructor.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 107 or PHY 117

Describes working principles of devices used in everyday life, such as the video recorder, fax machine, and television. Reviews the history of discoveries that made each device possible, as well as development of the device. Explores the consequences of particular devices in society. Suitable for non-science majors, but science and engineering majors are expected to greatly benefit from it also.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Introduces astronomy, astronomical instrumentation, the birth and evolution of stars, black holes, constellations and the night sky, covering scales in the universe, the history of astronomy from ancient times to the present, neutron stars, spectroscopy, and white dwarfs.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

A continuation of PHY 121. Covers the Milky Way galaxy, othe galaxies in the universe, cosmology and the origin of the universe, the formation of the solar system, earthlike planets, planets of the outer solar system, meteorites, asteroids, and comets. Course themes concentrate on origins: How did the universe begin? What was the origin of the earth? How did life begin?

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Studies heat, mechanics, sound, and waves.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Studies electricity and magnetism, light, optics, and modern physics.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Conducts experiments on mechanics, as well as electricity and magnetism.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Examines sound waves, electromagnetic waves, and geometrical and physical optics. Introduces modern physics, including discovery of the electron, the photon, wave-particle duality, the Bohr model of H-atom, the Schrödinger equation, quantum numbers, the Pauli principle and periodic table, and lasers.

Credits: 4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 108 or PHY 118

Examines thermodynamics, including temperature, zeroth law, thermal expansion, specific heat, first law, second law, entropy, third law, kinetic theory, Brownian motion, and the ideal gas. Also explores special relativity, including historical background, Lorentz transformations, length contraction, time dilation, invariance of the laws of physics, relativistic dynamics and kinematics, and paradoxes.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 108 or PHY 118

Covers the same topics as PHY 207, but in greater depth. Class size is limited. In general, taken by students in the University Honors College, but other students may take it with permission of instructor.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Conducts experiments on waves, geometrical and physical optics, and modern physics.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Introduces basic syntax and capabilities of this computer calculus/algebra system as applied to obtain analytical solutions to problems in physics. Students taking PHY 386 learn the same syntax as PHY 286 students, but are required to do more advanced problems such as occur in junior-senior physics courses. A student may receive academic credit for only one of the two courses.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Data not available
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Vectors, Newtonian mechanics: rectilinear motion of a particle, general motion of a particle in three dimensions, oscillations, Hamilton's variational principle: derivation of Lagrange's equations and Hamilton's equations with simple applications , equivalence to Newtonian dynamics, forces of constraint and the Lagrange multiplier method, generalized forces, noninertial reference systems, gravitation and central forces.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Whenever feasible, the Lagrangian method will be applied. Dynamics of systems of particles, mechanics of rigid bodies: planar motion, motion of rigid bodies in three dimensions, dynamics of oscillating systems.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Conducts experiments in thermodynamics and modern physics.

Credits: 2
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

A general, practical course. Covers the nature of sound; the ear and the hearing process; consonance and dissonance; scales and harmonic series; basic physics of musical instruments; high fidelity systems; and theatre, studio, and room acoustics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Data not available
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Introduces basic syntax and capabilities of the computer calculus/algebra system as applied to obtain analytical solutions to problems in physics. Students taking PHY 386 learn the same syntax as PHY 286 students, but are required to do more advanced problems such as occur in junior-senior physics courses. A student may receive academic credit for only one of the two courses.

Credits: 1
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Origins of quantum theory, wave function and the uncertainty principle, Schrodinger equation, one-dimensional examples, formalism of quantum mechanics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 207

Angular momentum, three-dimensional problems, hydrogen atom, time-independant perturbation theory, electron spin and fine structure, time-dependent perturbation theory, quantum statistics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Examines vector calculus, Gauss' law, scalar and vector potentials, Laplace and Poisson's equations, dielectrics, electrostatic and magnetostatic fields, Ampere's law, Faraday's law, and Maxwell's equations.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Undertakes further study of Maxwell's equations, electric and magnetic susceptibilities, electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic fields from a moving charge, waveguides and transmission lines, Poynting's vector, and Lorentz force. Also examines relativistic invariance.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Explores statistics and statistical description of particles; statistical and macroscopic thermodynamics; basic results of classical statistical mechanics and connections with thermodynamics; microcanonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles; applications to ideal gases, paramagnets, and lattice vibrations; kinetic theory; and phase equilibrium of one-component systems.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Covers quantum statistics of ideal Bose and Fermi systems, applications to electrons in metals, blackbody radiation, Bose condensation, neutron stars, interacting systems, lattice vibrations, nonideal gases, ferromagnets, kinetic theory of transport processes, irreversible processes, and fluctuations.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Covers modern physics, with a choice of experiments: atomic physics, modern laser optics, solid state, magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscopy, nuclear, or particle physics. Two four-hour labs each week.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Covers modern physics, with a choice of experiments: atomic physics, modern laser optics, solid state, magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, scanning probe microscopy, nuclear, or particle physics. Two four-hour labs each week.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Examines numerical solutions of problems in dynamics, electrodynamics, and quantum and statistical physics. Also examines root-finding, numerical differentiation, quadrature, matrix inversion, and ordinary differential equations. Studies structured programming in FORTRAN 90, C++, or Java; and explores Computer graphics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

More advanced physics problems involving partial differential equations. Numerical simulation and Monte Carlo methods, data analysis and fast Fourier transforms, use of mathematical library routines and computer algebra programs.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Explores fundamentals of nuclear physics, including interaction of radiation with matter; properties of nuclear forces; nuclear structure described by shell and collective models; nuclear reactions; radioactive decay processes; and properties of elementary particles.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Introduces basic concepts of circuit design, impedance, and feedback systems; solid-state components; integrated circuits; digital circuits; and basic instrumentation.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Involves individual work with faculty in a research laboratory.

Credits: 2-3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Involves individual work with faculty in a research laboratory.

Credits: 2-3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Examines geometrical and physical optics. Explores diffraction, interference, polarization, and other wave properties of light; and the quantum nature of light and lasers.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Fundamentals of mathematical physics. Includes linear and operator algebra, multiple integrals, Fourier series and transforms, calculus of variations, special functions, and partial differential equations. Focuses on specific applications in classical dynamics, quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, and fluid dynamics.

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: MTH 417 and MTH 418

Credits: 3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)
Pre-Requisites: PHY 401 and PHY 405

Topics of interest that are not regularly covered in other courses.

Credits: 1-3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

For students who wish to do a senior thesis. Consult the undergraduate director for details.

Credits: 1-4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Allows students to earn credit for research activities under the direction of a physics faculty member.

Credits: 1-3
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)

Involves individual study arranged between a student and a faculty member. Not restricted to students with professional goals in technical areas.

Credits: 1-4
Semester(s) Typically Offered: Fall, Spring
Grading: Graded (GRD)