Program Outcomes
Classical mechanics: fundamental principles governing momentum, energy, and angular momentum, systems of particles interacting via gravitational, electric, and contact forces, oscillating systems, wave motion and phenomena, Lagrangian mechanics, rigid body motion. PHYS 201, 203, 301, 303, 401, 424
Ability to work in teams. PHYS 203, 204, 303, 424. Ribbons: Caring for humanity and the world, learning throughout a lifetime, thinking critically
Communicate scientific knowledge and outcomes in written and oral form. PHYS 203, 204, 303, 424, 454, 455, 456. Ribbon: Caring for humanity and the world, developing creativity
Apply physics knowledge to independent research projects. PHYS 303, 424, 454, 455, 456. Ribbons: Thinking critically, crossing boundaries, developing creativity
Stellar: The magnitude system; stellar classification; star formation and evolution, including nucleosynthesis processes and stellar atmospheres; the end states of stars: white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; binary systems; variable stars.
Galactic: The cosmic distance scale; structure and kinematics of the Milky Way; external galaxies; large-scale structure of the Universe; Big Bang Theory; the cosmic microwave background; cosmological models.
Fundamental Astronomical Techniques: Telescopes and detectors; photometry and spectroscopy; astronomical catalogs and data archives; use of binary stars to determine stellar parameters; image processing and data extraction; the analysis of astronomical data.
Electromagnetism & optics: electric and magnetic fields, interaction of charges and fields, Maxwell’s equations, electromagnetic radiation, geometric & wave optics. PHYS 202, 204, 301, 303, 403, 424
Thermal physics: thermal energy, entropy, temperature and heat capacity. PHYS 202, 350, 355, 385, 424
Special relativity - inertial reference frames, time dilation, length contraction, paradoxes, principle of equivalence. PHYS 385
Quantum mechanics - wave-particle duality, Schrödinger’s equation, bra-ket notation, spin states, the hydrogen atom. PHYS 375, 385, 424
Mathematical methods of physics: ordinary and partial differential equations, complex variables, linear algebra, vector algebra and calculus, multiple integrals, Fourier analysis, and probability. All physics courses PHYS 201 and higher
Experimental physics techniques: error analysis, curve fitting, data analysis, planning and implementing basic experiments. PHYS 203, 204, 303, 424, 454, 455, 456
Know and use various problem solving strategies. All physics courses PHYS 201 and higher. Ribbons: Thinking critically, developing creativity
Synthesize knowledge from different areas of physics. All physics courses PHYS 201 and higher. Ribbons: Crossing boundaries