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Ph.D. Program

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Research:

Graduate students participate in research in one of several fields including molecular, experimental and theoretical solid-state, condensed matter, experimental and theoretical biophysics, experimental and theoretical nuclear physics, and astronomy. The department operates a molecular beam scattering laboratory, a solid-state laboratory, a bio-optics research laboratory, a nanostructures laboratory, and a nuclear physics detector laboratory. The department is a member of the SARA consortium operating a 1-meter class telescope on Kitt Peak.

 

Curriculum:

Applicants to the physics Ph.D. program will submit completed applications to the Department of Physics Graduate Committee, chaired by the Graduate Program Director and including a faculty representative from each research group. The graduate committee will admit students who meet the following requirements:

Admission Requirements:

1. Students entering the Doctoral Program must have a B.S. or M.S. degree or the equivalent in Physics or a closely related discipline.

2. International Students whose native language is not English must score at least 550 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

3. Students must either have a 3.0 average or higher at the undergraduate level or a score of 1000 or higher on the Quantitative-Verbal sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

4. Students must arrange for at least two letters of recommendations from individuals qualified to comment on their suitability for enrollment in a doctoral program.

Program Requirements:

A) All doctoral candidates must pass the Ph.D. qualifying examination no later than three years after entering the program. This examination will be given once per year and will require a detailed knowledge of all major areas of undergraduate and first year graduate physics. It will be supervised by the graduate committee.

B) Within two years of enrolling in the Ph.D. program, a student shall submit to the graduate committee in writing his/her choice of a research area. Approval from the graduate committee will be required as it will for any change requested by the student.

C) The coursework and research programs of the students shall be planned with the advice and approval of the student's advisor.

D) Some teaching experience will be required of all students.

E) A minimum of 90 graduate credit hours will be required, of which at least 36 credit hours shall come from formal course work at the 5000 and 6000 level. A minimum of three courses must be taken in subjects outside the student's own specialty in physics.

F) The following courses (all three credits, except PHY 6935) or their equivalents, as approved by the Department, will be required:

PHY 5115, Mathematical Physics I
PHY 5116, Mathematical Physics II
PHY 5240, Advanced Classical Mechanics
PHY 5346, Advanced Electromagnetic Theory I
PHY 5347, Advanced Electromagnetic Theory II
PHY 6524, Statistical Physics
PHY 6645, Advanced Quantum Mechanics I
PHY 6646, Advanced Quantum Mechanics II
PHY 6935, Graduate Research Seminar

G) A minimum of four courses (all three credits) will be required from the following list:

PHY 5235, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos
PHY 5446, Laser Physics
PHY 6255, Molecular Biophysics
PHY 6651, Quantum Scattering Theory I
PHY 6652, Quantum Scattering Theory II
PHY 6668, Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I
PHY 6669, Relativistic Quantum Field Theory II
PHY 6675, Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems I
PHY 6676, Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems II
PHZ 5130, Theoretical Treatment of Experimental Data
PHZ 5234, Atomic and Molecular Collision Phenomena
PHZ 5304, Advanced Nuclear Physics
PHZ 5405, Solid State Physics
PHZ 5505, Low energy Plasma Physics
PHZ 5506, Plasma Physics
PHZ 5606, Special Relativity
PHZ 6326, Low Energy Nuclear Physics I
PHZ 6327, Low Energy Nuclear Physics II
PHZ 6354, Introduction to Particle Physics
PHZ 6359, Quantum Gauge Field Theories
PHZ 6426, Advanced Solid State Physics
AST 5215, Stellar Astrophysics
AST 5405, Extragalactic Astrophysics
AST 5507, Celestial Mechanics
PHY XXXX, General Relativity
PHY XXXX, Fluid Dynamics
PHY XXXX, Lattice Field Theory
PHY XXXX, Subnuclear Physics
PHY XXXX, Accelerator Physics
PHY XXXX, Particle Detectors
PHY XXXX, Meteorology

 

Short description of courses:

Required courses:

PHY 5115, Mathematical Physics I: Methods of solutions for problems in mathematical physics including variational principles, complex variables, partial differential equations, integral equations and transforms. 20

PHY 5116, Mathematical Physics II: Additional solution methods in mathematical physics including perturbation methods, Laplace's and Poisson's Equations, Green's functions, waves, special functions, vector fields and vector waves.

PHY 5240, Advanced Classical Mechanics: Advanced formulations of the equations of motion and their applications including Lagrangians, Hamiltoninans, special relativity, canonical transformations, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, and continuous systems.

PHY 5346, Advanced Electromagnetic Theory I: Advanced treatment of classical electromagnetism including electrostatistics, Green's functions, Laplace's equation, multiple expansion, magneto-statics, Maxwell's equations and waves.

PHY 5347, Advanced Electromagnetic Theory II: Additional topics in classical electromagnetism including wave guides, radiating and diffracting systems, Kirchoff's integral for diffraction and covariant formulation of the field equations.

PHY 5446, Laser Physics: Principles of lasers and laser applications, including 20 atom-field interactions, stimulated emission, optical resonance and specific laser20 systems.

PHY 6524, Statistical Physics: Fundamental principles of statistical mechanics including fluctuations, noise and irreversible thermodynamics, kinetic methods and transport theory.

PHY 6645, Advanced Quantum Mechanics I: Advanced topics in quantum mechanics including quantized systems, the Klein-Gordon equation, solutions of the Dirac equation, relativistic currents and probability, Noether's theorem, the WKB methods and the hydrogen atom, and potential scattering.

PHY 6646, Advanced Quantum Mechanics II: Additional topics in advanced quantum mechanics including wave formulation of quantum electrodynamics mechanics, scattering, Feynman diagrams, and an introduction to gauge theory.

PHY 6935, Graduate Research Seminar: Seminars presented by students, faculty, and visitors on topics of current research interest. (1 credit)

Elective courses:

PHY 5235, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos: Introduction to the universal behavior of classical systems described by non-linear equations.

PHY 6255, Molecular Biophysics: The use of theoretical physics techniques to investigate biological systems including protein structures and dynamics, electron tunneling, nuclear tunneling, hemoglobin, photosynthesis, and vision.

PHY 6651, Quantum Scattering Theory I: The investigation of atomic and electronic scattering processes including potential scattering, long range potentials, and electron-atom collisions

PHY 6652, Quantum Scattering Theory II: The mathematical investigation of scattering processes including auto-ionization, fast versus slow collisions, Regge poles and S and T matrices.

PHY 6668, Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I: Introduction to relativistic quantum fields; the general formalism, Klein-Gordon field, Dirac field, vector fields, interacting fields, the CPT theorem, reduction formulae, and gauge theory.

PHY 6669, Relativistic Quantum Field Theory II: Additional topics in relativistic quantum field theory including perturbation theory, U matrix, Wick's theorem, dispersion relations, renormalization, the Ward identity, the renormalization group and the path integral formalism.

PHY 6675, Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems I: An introduction to the physics of many particle systems including second quantization, Fock spaces, Boson and Fermion symmetry, the Gell-Mann Low theorem , diagrammatic expansions and the Goldstone theorem. 20

PHY 6676, Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems II: Additional topics in the physics of many particle systems including Fermi gas, Bosc condensation, the Hartree-Fock approximation, the random phase approximation, finite temperature formalism and hadrons.

PHZ 5130, Theoretical Treatment of Experimental Data: Statistical analysis of physical processes and statistical tests with particular emphasis on instrumentation related problems including mathematical modeling and computer simulation.

PHZ 5234, Atomic and Molecular Collision Phenomena: Investigation of atomic and molecular collision phenomena including kinetic theory, elastic scattering, inelastic scattering, excitation and ionization, and heavy particle collisions.

PHZ 5304, Advanced Nuclear Physics: The fundamental properties of nuclei, nuclear forces, nuclear models, radioactivity, weak processes and nuclear reactions.

PHZ 5405, Solid State Physics: This is an introductory course on the crystalline structure of solids and surfaces, the properties of metals, insulators and semi- conductor; and the basic concepts of electronic states and lattice dynamics.

PHZ 5505, Low energy Plasma Physics: The kinetics of rarefied gases and thermal plasmas including phase space, random currents, orbit theory, plasma sheaths, radiation and the pinch effect.

PHZ 5506, Plasma Physics: Fundamentals of plasma physics, including the Boltamoun Equation, the hydrodynamics equations, and the interaction of electromagnectic waves with plasmas.

PHZ 5606, Special Relativity Detailed study of special relativity with emphasis on Lorentz transformations, the Lorentz group, and relativistic electrodynamics.

PHZ 6326, Low Energy Nuclear Physics I: Introduction to the physics of nuclei and nuclear processes, including nuclear forces, scattering processes and nuclear models.

PHZ 6327, Low Energy Nuclear Physics II: Additional topics in nuclear physics including the shell and collective models, nuclear reactions, scattering theory, entrance channel phenoma, rearrangement collisions and breakup reactions.

PHZ 6354, Introduction to Particle Physics: An introduction to modern particle theory including elementary field theory, symmetries, quantum electrodynamics, quark-parton model, quantum chromodynamics, and the Weinberg-Salam model.

PHZ 6359, Quantum Gauge Field Theories: Basics of field quantization, abelian and non-abelian gauge theories, the standard SU(3) X SU(2) X U(1) model, non- perturbative features, lattice regularization and numerical simulation.

PHZ 6426, Advanced Solid State Physics: This course covers topics on electronic structure, superconductivity, and magnetism in solids using quantum mechanical theories with an emphasis on new experimental and theoretical techniques in studies of phase transitions, surface phenomena, and electron properties.

AST 5215, Stellar Astrophysics: An advanced course on the structure and evolution of stars emphasizing the physics of stellar interiors, and underlying observational data.

AST 5405, Extragalactic Astrophysics: Theoretical and observational introduction to galaxies, quasars and cosmology.

AST 5507, Celestial Mechanics: Principles of classical mechanics applied to the motion of planets, satellites, and interplanetary probes.

PHY XXXX, General Relativity: A detailed introduction to gravitational physics and general relativity including tensors and differential geometry.

PHY XXXX, Fluid Dynamics: An introduction to the fundamentals of fluid dynamics including ideal fluids, viscous fluids, turbulence, boundary layers, heat conduction and relativistic fluids.=20

PHY XXXX, Lattice Field Theory: The theory of quantum fields on a lattice including introductory material, scalar fields, fermion fields, quantum chromodynamics, Higgs and Yukawa models and simulation algorithms.=20

PHY XXXX, Subnuclear Physics: A course devoted to the study of nuclear and nucleon constituents with topics including quarks and their color and flavor interactions, quantum chromodynamics, and grand unified theories.

PHY XXXX, Accelerator Physics: Overview of accelerator development and accelerator technologies including design issues relevant to synchrotron light sources, free electron lasers, and spin dynamics in cyclic accelerators and storage rings.

PHY XXXX, Particle Detectors: Description of particle and radiation detection techniques with an emphasis on applications in accelerator based intermediate and high energy experiments.

PHY XXXX, Meteorology: Introduction to meteorology including topics in atmospheric circulation, tropical meteorology, numerical weather predictions and global climatic studies.

PHY 7981, Dissertation (variable credit): A doctoral dissertation will be required that reports original research in one of the areas of research specialization of the faculty. The student will make a public presentation and defense of this dissertation.

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