Major- Old Requirements
These requirements apply to the Class of 2019 or earlier classes.
Students majoring in physics or astronomy normally take PHYSICS 135-1,2,3 in their first year. Qualified students may take PHYSICS 125-1,2,3 (Physics for ISP) with consent of the department. Depending on their high school preparation, physics and astronomy majors normally also take calculus in their freshman year (MATH 220, 224, 230). However, students taking PHYSICS 125-1,2,3 must be enrolled in one of the advanced mathematics sequences (MATH 281-1,2,3 or 290-1,2,3).
Specifically, physics and astronomy majors must pass these courses or the equivalent:
Basic Courses (6 units)
MATH 220 and 224 or 212, 213, and 214
MATH 230
PHYSICS 125-1,2,3 or 135-1,2,3
Students with advanced credit can place out of all or part of these six courses.
Core Sequence (9 units)
MATH 234, 240, and 250 or 250 and 290-1,2,3 or 281-1,2,3
MATH 351
PHYSICS 330-1 (Classical Mechanics)
PHYSICS 332-0 (Statistical Mechanics)
PHYSICS 333-1 (Electricity & Magnetism)
PHYSICS 339-1 (Quantum Mechanics)
One lab course from PHYSICS 357-0, 358-0, 359-0, 360-0
Concentrations
Beyond the required basic and core courses, majors must also select at least one of the following concentrations and complete all the course requirements in that concentration:
Advanced Physics (6 units)
PHYSICS 330-2 (Classical Mechanics)
PHYSICS 333-2 (Electricity & Magnetism)
PHYSICS 339-2 (Quantum Mechanics)
One lab course from ASTRON 321-0, PHYSICS 357-0, 358-0, 359-0, 360-0
Two other 300-level physics or astronomy courses other than PHYSICS 335, 398, 399 or ASTRON 398, 399
Astronomy (6 units)
PHYSICS 330-2 (Classical Mechanics)
PHYSICS 333-2 (Electricity & Magnetism)
PHYSICS 339-2 (Quantum Mechanics)
ASTRON 220-0 (Introduction to Astrophysics)
Two other 300-level astronomy classes other than 398 or 399 (Independent Study)
Biomedical Physics (8 units)
CHEM 101 and 102 or 171 and 172 (General Chemistry)
One lab course from ASTRON 321-0, PHYSICS 357-0, 358-0, 359-0, 360-0
BME 301, 302 (Systems Physiology)
BME 305 (Biomedical Signals and Imaging)
Two courses selected from:
BME 303, 323, 327
EECS 360 (Introduction to Feedback Systems)
Computational Physics (7 units)
Prerequisite: Knowledge of Fortran, C or C++, or equivalent
ES APPM 311-1 (Methods of Applied Mathematics) or 346-0 (Modeling and Computation in Science and Engineering)
MATH 310-1 (Probability and Stochastic Processes)
PHYSICS 352-0 (Introduction to Computational Physics)
One lab course from ASTRON 321-0, PHYSICS 357-0, 358-0, 359-0, 360-0
Three electives chosen from the following:
One 300-level physics or astronomy course other than 335, 398 or 399
ES APPM 311-2,3 (Methods of Applied Mathematics)
ES APPM 322-0 (Applied Dynamical Systems)
EECS 212 (Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science)
EECS 336 (Design and Analysis of Algorithms)
MATH 310-2,3 (Probability and Stochastic Processes)
MATH 354-1,2 (Chaotic Dynamical Systems)
MATH 374-0 (Theory of Computability and Turing Machines)
STAT 330-1,2 (Applied Statistics for Research)
Materials Physics (8 units)
CHEM 101 and 102 or 171 and 172 (General Chemistry)
PHYSICS 337-0 (Solid State Physics)
PHYSICS 339-2 (Quantum Mechanics)
MAT SCI 316-1,2 (Microstructural Dynamics)
Two courses chosen from:
MAT SCI 332-0 (Kinetics of Heterogeneous Reactions)
MAT SCI 355-0 (Electronic Materials)
MAT SCI 360-0 (Introduction to Electron Microscopy)
MAT SCI 361-0 (Crystallography and Diffraction)
MAT SCI 380-0 (Introduction to Surface Science and Spectroscopy)
Nanoscale Physics (6 units)
PHYSICS 333-2 (Electricity & Magnetism)
PHYSICS 337-0 (Introduction to Solid-State Physics)
PHYSICS 339-2 (Quantum Mechanics)
PHYSICS 358-0 (Nanolithography)
Two electives chosen from:
At most one lab course from ASTRON 321-0, PHYSICS 357-0, 359-0, 360-0
BME 305-0 (Biomedical Signals Analysis)
BME 317-0 (Biochemical Sensors
BME 343-0 (Biomaterials and Medical Devices)
BME 366-0 (Biomechanics of Movement)
EECS 389-0 (Superconductivity and Applications)
MAT SCI 355-0 (Electronic Materials)
MAT SCI 360-0 (Electron Microscopy)
MAT SCI 370-0 (Biomaterials)
MAT SCI 376-0 (Nanomaterials)
MAT SCI 381-0 (Energy Materials)
MECH ENG 319-0 (Applications of Surface Science to Nanomechanics and Nanotribology)
MECH ENG 381-0 (Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems)
MECH ENG 382-0 (Experiments in Micro and Nanoscience Engineering)
MECH ENG 385-0 (Nanotechnology)