Requirements for a Bachelor of Science Major in Physics
(Effective Fall 2008)
Consult with your Undergraduate Advisor, to plan your program.
The Bachelor of Science is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Physics or a related scientific or engineering discipline.
The departmental requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Physics consists of the Core Courses required of all students plus the courses from one of the Tracks listed below. The following chart summarizes the credit hour requirements:
Core Courses for the BS Degree (52 cr)
The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence:
| PHYS 201H |
Modern Topics in Physics & Astronomy |
(1) |
| MATH 106 |
Analytic Geometry & Calculus 1 |
(5) |
| PHYS 211 |
General Physics I |
(4) |
| PHYS 221 |
General Physics Laboratory I |
(1) |
| MATH 107 |
Analytic Geometry & Calculus II |
(5) |
| PHYS 212 |
General Physics II |
(4) |
| PHYS 222 |
General Physics Laboratory II |
(1) |
| CHEM 113 |
Fundamental Chemistry |
(4) |
| MATH 208 |
Analytic Geometry & Calculus III |
(4) |
| PHYS 213 |
General Physics III |
(4) |
| PHYS 223 |
General Physics Laboratory III |
(1) |
| MATH 221 |
Differential Equations |
(3) |
| PHYS 231 |
Electrical & Electronic Circuits |
(3) |
| PHYS 311 |
Mechanics |
(3) |
| PHYS 431 |
Thermal Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 451 |
Electromagnetic Theory |
(3) |
| PHYS 461 |
Quantum Mechanics |
(3) |
I. Professional Track (18 cr)
The Professional Track is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Physics. The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence.
| PHYS 441 |
Experimental Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 442 |
Experimental Physics II |
(3) |
| PHYS 452 |
Optics & Electromagnetic Waves |
(3) |
| PHYS 462 |
Atoms, Nuclei & Elementary Particles |
(3) |
In addition, at least 6 hours must be taken from the following courses. Up to 3 hours of PHYS 391 Undergraduate Research may be counted toward the track by substitution, provided that the research project is approved by the Chief Advisor.
| PHYS 343 |
Physics of Lasers & Modern Optics |
(3) |
| PHYS 361 |
Concepts of Modern Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 391 |
Undergraduate Research |
(3) |
| PHYS 401 |
Computational Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 422 |
Intro. to the Phys. & Chem. of Solids |
(3) |
| PHYS 443 |
Experimental Physics III |
(3) |
| PHYS 480 |
Intro. Lasers & Laser Applications |
(3) |
| MATH 314 |
Appl. Linear Algebra (Matrix Theory) |
(3) |
| OR |
|
|
| MATH 324 |
Intro. Partial Differential Equations |
(3) |
|
II. Astronomy Track (19 cr)
The Astronomy Track is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Astronomy or Astrophysics. The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence.
| ASTR 204 |
Intro. to Astronomy & Astrophysics |
(3) |
| ASTR 224 |
Astronomy & Astrophysics Laboratory |
(1) |
| ASTR 452 |
Optics and Electromagnetic Waves |
(3) |
In addition, at least 9 hours must be taken from 400-level Astronomy courses, listed ASTR 4XX.
In addition, at least 3 hours must be taken from the following courses. Up to 3 hours of PHYS 391 Undergraduate Research may be counted toward the track by substitution, provided that the research project is approved by the Chief Advisor.
| PHYS 343 |
Physics of Lasers & Modern Optics |
(3) |
| PHYS 361 |
Concepts of Modern Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 401 |
Computational Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 422 |
Intro. to the Phys. & Chem. of Solids |
(3) |
| PHYS 441 |
Experimental Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 462 |
Atoms, Nuclei, and Elementary Particles |
(3) |
| PHYS 480 |
Intro. Lasers & Laser Applications |
(3) |
III. Optics and Lasers Track (18 cr)
The Optics and Lasers Track is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Optical or Laser Physics, or in related Engineering disciplines. The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence.
| PHYS 343 |
Physics of Lasers & Modern Optics |
(3) |
| PHYS 441 |
Experimental Physics I |
(3) |
| PHYS 452 |
Optics & Electromagnetic Waves |
(3) |
| PHYS 480 |
Intro. Lasers & Laser Applications |
(3) |
In addition, at least 6 hours must be taken from the following courses. Up to 3 hours of PHYS 391 Undergraduate Research may be counted toward the track by substitution, provided that the research project is approved by the Chief Advisor.
| PHYS 361 |
Concepts of Modern Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 401 |
Computational Physics |
(3) |
| PHYS 422 |
Intro. to the Phys. of Chem. & Solids |
(3) |
| PHYS 442 |
Experimental Physics II |
(3) |
| PHYS 462 |
Atoms, Nuclei, & Elementary Particles |
(3) |
| MATH 314 |
Appl. Linear Algebra (Matrix Theory) |
(3) |
| OR |
|
|
| MATH 324 |
Intro. Partial Differential Equations |
(3) |
|
IV. Materials Physics Track (18 cr)
The Materials Physics Track (for the Physics B.S.) is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Materials Physics or in related disciplines. The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence.
| CHEM 114 |
Fundamental Chemistry II |
(3) |
| CHEM 116 |
Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory |
(2) |
| METL 360 |
Elements of Materials Sciences, with Lab |
(4) |
| METL 462 |
X-Ray Diffraction |
(3) |
| OR |
|
|
| METL 471 |
Electron Microscopy |
(3) |
|
| PHYS 422 |
Intro to the Phys. & Chem. of Solids |
(3) |
In addition, at least 3 hours must be taken from the following courses. Up to 3 hours of PHYS 391 Undergraduate Research may be counted toward the track by substitution, provided that the research project is approved by the Chief Advisor.
| CHEM 261 |
Organic Chemistry |
(3) |
| CHEM 481 |
Physical Chemistry |
(4) |
| ELEC 216 |
Electronics & Circuits II |
(3) |
| PHYS 401 |
Computational Physics |
(3) |
V. Computational Physics Track (18 cr)
The Computational Physics Track (for the Physics B.S.) is designed for students intending to pursue graduate study or employment in Computational Physics, or in related disciplines. The following required courses are listed in the recommended sequence.
| CSCE 155 |
Intro. to Computer Science I |
(4) |
| CSCE 156 |
Intro. to Computer Science II |
(4) |
| CSCE 251U |
Unix Programming |
(1) |
| OR |
|
|
| CSCE 252D |
FORTRAN Programming |
(1) |
|
| PHYS 401 |
Computational Physics |
(3) |
In addition, at least 6 hours must be taken from the following courses. Up to 3 hours of PHYS 391 Undergraduate Research may be counted toward the track by substitution, provided that the research project is approved by the Chief Advisor.
| CSCE 235 |
Intro. to Discrete Structures |
(3) |
| CSCE 310 |
Data Structures & Algorithms |
(3) |
| CSCE 340 |
Numerical Analysis I |
(3) |
| CSCE 429 |
Parallel Algorithms & Programming |
(3) |
|
