Graduate Course Atlas - Spring Semester 2009

Content: Maxwell's Equations; Variational Principles; Conservation Laws; Green's Functions; Retarded Green's Functions; Radiation-Field and Source Viewpoints; Models of Antennas; Spectral Distribution of Radiation; Cerenkov Radiation; Synchrotron Radiation; Propagation in Dielectric Media; Waveguides; Scattering by Small Obstacles; Diffraction.

Prerequisite: A good working knowledge of multi-dimensional calculus as well as basic knowledge of differential equations in higher dimensions.

Text: Classical Electrodynamics, Schwinger, DeRaad, Milton, Tsai

Content: Entropy, temperature, free energy, statistical mechanics, Gibbs ensembles, partition function, ideal gas, Fermi and Bose gases, principles of classical thermodynamics, Carnot Theorem, phase transitions, and critical phenomena.

Prerequisite: PHYS 421 or equivalent

Text: Statistical Mechanics, Huang

Content: The course focuses on how structure and dynamics at the molecular level contribute to the observed function of biological systems, with a specific emphasis on proteins. An introduction to protein structure and dynamics is given, followed by a detailed examination of specific protein systems, including those involved in solar energy conversion, visual transduction and molecular motion (motors). A parallel focus is on the physical techniques of spectroscopy and scattering that are used to obtain the molecular scale information. The physical techniques are described in the context of the problems in molecular biophysics that they have solved.

Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

Audience: The course is intended for students in the physical, chemical or biological sciences who wish to understand fundamental molecular "operating principles" of biological systems, and specifically, proteins.

Particulars: Three take home exams; problem sets; term paper.

Text: TBA

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)

Content: This survey course covers materials such as emulsions, gels, colloids, foams, polymers, liquid crystals, surfactants, simple liquids, and sand; methods such as rheology, microscopy, laser tweezers, scattering, and simulation; and diverse other topics such as energy landscapes, effective temperatures, percolation, diffusion, nonlinear dynamics, spin glasses, and fractals.

Audience: Advanced undergraduates in physics and chemistry, and graduate students.

Text: Soft Condensed Matter, Jones

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)

Prerequisite: (Written Permission of Instructor Required Prior to Pre-Registration)