Advanced Courses

The advanced courses are designed to prepare students for specialization as well as to provide students outside their specialty with challenges to other fields of physics. Each student is required to take four advanced courses with no letter grade below B-. Current Advanced Courses and their schedule follow, organized by field (please note, the schedule is subject to change based upon faculty availability):

Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

• PHY 395              Survey of Atomic & Molecular Physics; approx. every year.
• PHY 395K           Nonlinear Optics and Lasers; approx. once every two years.
• PHY 395M          Laser Physics; approx. once every two years.

Condensed Matter Physics & Quantum Information¹

• PHY 392K           Solid State Physics I; every Spring Term.
• PHY 392L            Solid State Physics II; every Fall Term.
• PHY 392N           Many-Body Theory; once every two years.
• PHY 392P           Advanced Optical Spectroscopy; periodically.
• PHY 392Q           Density Functional Theory; approx. once every two years.

Particle Physics, Cosmology, Strings

• PHY 396G           Cosmology; offered annually.
• PHY 396K           Quantum Field Theory I; every Fall Term.
• PHY 396L            Quantum Field Theory II; every Spring Term.
• PHY 396J             Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics; offered annually.
• PHY 396P           String Theory I; every other Spring Term.
• PHY 396Q           String Theory II; not regularly offered.

Nonlinear Dynamics and Biophysics

• PHY 382M          Fluid Mechanics; every other Fall Term.
• PHY 382N           Nonlinear Mechanics; every other Spring Term.
• PHY 382P           Biophysics I; every other Fall Term.
• PHY 382Q           Biophysics II; not regularly offered.

Nuclear Physics (Relativistic Heavy-Ion Physics)

• PHY 397K           Introduction to High Energy Physics & RHIC I; not regularly offered.
• PHY 397L            Introduction to High Energy Physics & RHIC II; not regularly offered.

Plasma and Fusion Physics

• PHY 380L            Plasma Physics I; every Spring Term.
• PHY 380M          Plasma Physics II; every Fall Term.

Gravitational Physics and Relativity

• PHY 387M          Relativity Theory I; every Spring Term.
• PHY 387N           Relativity Theory II; currently not regularly offered.

Non-Specialized²:

• PHY 380N           Experimental Physics; every Fall and Summer Term.
• PHY 386K           Physics of Sensors; currently not regularly offered.³
• PHY 387L            Electromagnetic Theory II; currently not regularly offered.
• PHY 389L            Quantum Mechanics II; currently not regularly offered..
• PHY 381N           Methods of Mathematical Physics II; not regularly offered.

¹ For students in Quantum Information, QFT I and II are also in-field.

² With the exception of “Physics of Sensors”, courses under this category cannot be used as an Out-of-Field Advanced Course by anyone.

³ Only students in Particle Theory, Cosmology, Strings, and Plasma Physics may take this course as an Out-of-Field Advanced Course.