Graduate Courses

Hamilton approaches to dynamics; canonical transformation and variational techniques; central force and rigid body motions; the mechanics of small oscillations and continuous systems.

Prerequisites: PHYS 302 or equivalent; MATH 311 and MATH 412 or equivalents; concurrent registration in PHYS 615.

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 transformations

Prerequisites: PHYS 304 or equivalents; PHYS 615.

Schrodinger wave equation, bound states of simple systems, collision theory, representation and expansion theory, matrix formulation, perturbation theory.

Prerequisites: PHYS 412 or equivalent; MATH 311 and MATH 412 or equivalents; concurrent registration in PHYS 615.

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 mechanics.

Prerequisites: PHYS 408 and PHYS 412 or equivalents; PHYS 615.

Continuation of PHYS 603. Propagation, 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 charges.

Prerequisites: PHYS 603

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 mechanics.

Prerequisites: MATH 311, MATH 407 and MATH 412 or equivalents.

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 algebras.

Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or approval of instructor.

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 properties.

Prerequisites: PHYS 606 and PHYS 607.

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 theories.

Prerequisites: PHYS 408 and PHYS 412 or equivalents; knowledge of any programming language.

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

Prerequisites: PHYS 606

Nuclear models, nuclear spectroscopy, nuclear reactions, electromagnetic properties of nuclei; topics of current interest.

Prerequisites: PHYS 606

Fundamentals of elementary particle physics; particle classification, symmetry principles, relativistic kinematics and quark models; basics of strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions.

Prerequisites: PHYS 606.

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 solids.

Prerequisites: PHYS 617 and PHYS 624

Continuation of PHYS 631. Recent topics in condensed matter theory. Peierl'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 Chaos.

Prerequisites: PHYS 601, PHYS 617 and PHYS 624.

Classical scalar, vector and Dirac fields; second quantization; scattering matrix and perturbation theory; dispersion relations; renormalization.

Prerequisites: PHYS 624.

Functional integrals; divergences, regularization and renormalization; non-abelian gauge theories; other topics of current interest.

Prerequisites: PHYS 634.

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 LaTex.

Prerequisites: PHYS 305 and PHYS 412; working knowledge of C or C++; or approval of instructor.

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 AGN.

Prerequisites: PHYS 601; or ASTR 314 and PHYS 302; or approval of instructor.

Cross-Section: ASTR 601/PHYS 641.

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 instruments.

Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or equivalent; or approval of instructor.

Cross-Section: ASTR 602/PHYS 642.

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 synthesis.

Prerequisites: PHYS 606 and PHYS 607 or equivalents; or approval of instructor

Cross-Section: ASTR 603/PHYS 643

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 energy.

Prerequisites: PHYS 615 or equivalent; or approval of instructor.

Cross-Section: ASTR 604/PHYS 644

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 observations.

Prerequisites: PHYS 601 and PHYS 607 or equivalents; or approval of instructor.

Cross-Section: ASTR 605/PHYS 645.

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 scattering.

Prerequisites: PHYS 302, PHYS 304, PHYS 408, and PHYS 412 or equivalents; or approval of instructor.

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 radiation.

Prerequisites: PHYS 611 and PHYS 615.

Line widths of spectral lines; laser spectroscopy; optical cooling; trapping of atoms and ions; coherence; pico- and femto-second spectroscopy; spectroscopic instrumentation.

Prerequisites: Approval of instructor.

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, etc.

Prerequisites: Quantum mechanics (PHYS 412 and PHYS 414 or PHYS 606 or equivalent).

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-branes.

Prerequisites: PHYS 634 and PHYS 653; PHYS 647 recommended.

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 compactifications; black holes in string theory; AdS/CFT correspondence; string and M-theory cosmology.

Prerequisites: PHYS 651; PHYS 647 recommended.

Core material on supersymmetric field theories and their coupling to supergravity theories.

Prerequisites: PHYS 634.

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.

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 building.

Prerequisites: PHYS 634 and PHYS 651

Basic properties of superconductors, superfluid 4He and superfluid 3He; Bose Einstein condensation, BCS theory and Ginzburg-Landau theory; methods of achieving low temperatures, with lab tours. Special topics include broken symmetry, neutron stars, ultra-cold atomic gases and tunneling in superconductors.

Prerequisites: PHYS 408, PHYS 412, and PHYS 414, or equivalents.

Theory and techniques for designing and constructing advanced scientific instruments such as spectrometers, cryostats, vacuum systems, etc.; mechanical and electronic shop procedures utilizing the lathe and mill; welding and soldering; drafting and print reading; circuit design.

Prerequisites: Approval of instructor.

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 generation.

Prerequisites: PHYS 204, PHYS 205, PHYS 221 and PHYS 412, or equivalents.

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 devices.

Prerequisites: MATH 304; PHYS 208.

Cross-Section: ECEN 674/PHYS 674.

Subjects of current importance; normally required of all graduate students in physics.

Prerequisites: None

Individual problems not related to thesis.

Prerequisites: Approval of instructor.

Selected topics in an identified area of physics. May be repeated for credit.

Prerequisites: Approval of instructor.

Research toward thesis or dissertation.

Prerequisites: Baccalaureate degree in physics or equivalent.