Graduate Classes

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.

Prerequisites: Physics 421 or equivalent.

Content: An introduction is given to the quantum mechanics of solids. Properties of metals, insulators and semiconductors will be discussed. Equations governing the charge transport inside materials and at their interfaces will be derived. Applications such as solid state diodes, transistors, photovoltaic and thermoelectric structures will be discussed. Quantum phenomena arising in reduced dimensions, including mesoscopic/nanoscale systems, quantum wells, surfaces and interfaces, will be discussed. Topics will also include the phenomena of superconductivity and magnetism, and the Quantum Hall state.

Text: Solid State Physics, Aschcroft, NW

Content: The course explores physical and statistical constraints used by biological systems, from bacteria, to large organisms, and to entire populations, to sense external environmental signals, and shape a response.

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

Content: Modern experimental techniques and hands-on laboratory projects, including semiconductor device physics, chaos in electronics, X-ray crystallography, and astronomical photometry.

Particulars: Each student will complete written reports for at least three experimental projects. All students must register for both W 2:30-5:00 and F 2:30-5:00

Prerequisites: Physics 253 and consent of the instructor.

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.

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

Audience: Graduate Students and Advanced Undergraduates

Content: Theoretical foundations, propagation and focusing of optical fields, resolution and localization, confocal microscopy, nanoscale optical microscopy, optical super-resolution techniques, optical interactions, quantum emitters, surface plasmons, optical antennas and nanophotonic devices, optical metamaterials, optical forces.

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)

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

This seminar serves two purposes: (1) to set up and prepare to teach each weeks specific undergraduate laboratory experiment and (2) to read and discuss important studies that have come from the field of physics education research. In the short term, this survey of physics education research is meant to inform and improve the beginning teaching assistants effectiveness in the undergraduate classroom. In the long term, this seminar provides our graduate students with a significantly deeper teaching experience than the standard job as an introductory lab TA.

Audience: Required for physics graduate students, to be taken concurrently with the first semester of service as a teaching assistant.

Content: An advanced-level graduate course on classical mechanics. Topics to be covered include: Lagrangian mechanics; conservation laws; integration of equations of motion; central forces and planetary motion; collisions between particles; small oscillations; motions of rigid bodies; motion in non-inertial frames; Hamilton's equations.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

Content: General formulation of quantum mechanics and applications to various types of problems including: matrix formulation, quantization of physical observables, time evolution of a system state, perturbation theory, theory of angular momentum, two level systems, magnetic dipole-dipole interactions, spin-orbit interactions, anomalous Zeeman effect, exchange degeneracy and systems of identical particles, atomic structures, and scattering theory.

Particulars: Grades are based on homework assignments and class presentations. Problems are assigned on a regular basis. Subjects of presentations will be assigned by the instructor with the consent of the presenting students. Prerequisite-Physics 503A or consent of the instructor.

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.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

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.

Prerequisites: Physics 421 or equivalent.

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.

Content: Polymer structures and conformations, polymer synthesis, molecular weight distribution and characterization; properties of polymer solutions, solubility and miscibility, polymer blends; properties of bulk polymers, glass and melt transitions, crystallization, rubber elasticity, viscous flow and viscoelasticity, time-temperature superposition; polymer dynamics, Rouse and reptation models. This course is intended to give students an overview of important concepts in polymer science, and highlight some of the current areas of research and how it relates to technological applications.

Text: Polymer Chemistry, 2nd Ed., Hiemenz & Lodge, 2007.

Audience: Graduate Students and Advanced Undergraduates.

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)

This seminar serves two purposes: (1) to set up and prepare to teach each week¿s specific undergraduate laboratory experiment and (2) to read and discuss important studies that have come from the field of physics education research. In the short term, this survey of physics education research is meant to inform and improve the beginning teaching assistant¿s effectiveness in the undergraduate classroom. In the long term, this seminar provides our graduate students with a significantly deeper teaching experience than the standard job as an introductory lab TA.

Audience: Required for physics graduate students, to be taken concurrently with the first semester of service as a teaching assistant.