2018-2019 Undergraduate Catalog [Archived Catalog]
Physics
|
|
Shashi Kanbur, Chair
294 Shineman Center
315-312-2388
www.oswego.edu/physics
Directory of Professors
The major programs develop versatile skills in theoretical and experimental physics (including familiarity with electronic equipment) that many employers in technologically oriented businesses and industry find attractive. SUNY Oswego physics graduates have an impressive record of entry to a wide variety of graduate programs nationwide in all branches of applied science. The Department offers the normal BS track, as well as a track in Applied Physics, a BA in Physics and Physics teaching certification.
The Department offers a strong and vibrant program that provides a solid grounding in experimental and theoretical physics with plenty of options to take advanced courses in Astrophysics, Computational Physics, Materials Science, Quantumn Mechanics.
In order to pursue interdisciplinary studies in graduate school,many students double major. Because it is the most basic of the natural sciences, physics is an ideal choice for one component of a double major with mathematics, chemistry, meteorology, biology or zoology. The department also offers a minor in Astronomy. The department offers excellent laboratory facilities and there is ample scope for students to get involved in research projects with faculty in Astrophysics, Condensed Matter Physics, History of Science, NanoPhysics, Nuclear Physics and Thin Films. Many students are able to go abroad during the summer to work at institutions overseas. There are opportunities for internships and coops in high technology industries. Students regularly present the results of their research at regional/national/international conferences.
Major
Minor
Honor Requirements for Major
Astronomy
-
AST 100 - Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Study of solar and stellar systems, astronomical instruments and observational methods; observation and classwork at the college observatory and planetarium.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 3 -
AST 310 - Topics in Modern Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A contemporary study of astronomy with emphasis on: recent findings in solar system, stellar, and extragalactic astronomy; theories of the origin and evolution of the universe; the possible existence of extraterrestrial life and the search for it.
Prerequisite: AST 100 or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
AST 311 - Solar System Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A comprehensive study of the solar system with emphasis on: planets and satellites, earth-moon system, asteroids-comets-meteors, gravitation, planetary motion, eclipses, measurement of time, solar-terrestrial relations, and the origin of the solar system.
Prerequisite: AST 100 or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
AST 350 - Observational Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
This course is an introduction to the techniques and principles of making astronomical observations. Outdoor observing sessions will involve visual and photographic observations.
Prerequisite: AST 100 or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
AST 360 - Human Futures
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
This course explores expected technologies of the next 100 years and how they will affect society and individual lifestyles. Topics include intelligent systems, virtual reality, cloning, genetic engineering, space travel, and colonization. The course is multi-disciplinary covering the fields of computer technology, biology, astronomy, physics, and chemistry. The ethics of new technologies and the social choices they allow will also be addressed.
Prerequisite: Upper division standing or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
AST 390 - Special Topics in Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Selected topics in Astronomy. Problems in specified areas vary from semester to semester.
Prerequisite: AST 100 or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 1 to 3 -
AST 399 - Independent Study
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Requires preparation by a superior student (cumulative GPA at least 3.0) who presents a written plan for a study not available as a regular course and nine hours in subject area.
Prerequisite: Nine hours in Astronomy and instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 1 to 6 -
AST 401 - Advanced Astronomy
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Gravitation and celestial mechanics, basic physics and chemistry of stars and stellar atmospheres, and description and analysis of spectral classes. Laboratory work at the college observatory (weather permitting) and planetarium.
Prerequisite: AST 100 and MAT 210 and either PHY 111 OR 112, or instructor permission.
Offered: Spring term of even years.
Credit: 3 -
AST 405 - Introductory Astrophysics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Interpretation and study of stellar spectra; physical and chemical bases of the origin and evolution of stars and stellar systems.
Prerequisite: AST 100 and MAT 210 and either PHY 212 OR 213, or instructor permission.</p.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
AST 499 - Independent Study
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Requires preparation by a superior student (cumulative GPA at least 3.2) who presents a written plan for a study not available as a regular course and fifteen hours in the subject area.
Note: Variable credit 1 to 6. Repeatable for a total of 12 credits.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Physics
-
PHY 101 - Introductory Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An introductory quantitative survey of the principles of physics. (High school algebra required.) Newtonian mechanics, electricity and magnetism, light, and modern physics.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 3 -
PHY 111 - College Physics I
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A course in mechanics, heat, properties of matter and wave motion. High school algebra and trigonometry required.
Co-requisite: Required laboratory
Offered: Fall
Credit: 4 -
PHY 112 - General University Physics I
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
General principles of physics are taught in the areas of Mechanics, Oscillations and Fluids using a calculus-based approach.
Prerequisite: Prerequisite: MAT 210 previously or concurrently.
Offered: Fall
Credit: 4 -
PHY 195 - Physics Seminar
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A one semester seminar course for all students entering the physics program. This seminar is intended to inform the beginning physics student what the different interests that physicists and engineers have working in a modern technological society and the requirements needed to be successful in these fields.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 1 -
PHY 202 - Light and Color
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An introductory survey of the physics of light and color. Lenses, simple optical instruments color production by pigment and light, color perception and color standards.
Offered: Not on a regular basis.
Credit: 3 -
PHY 204 - Physics of Sound and Music
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An introductory one semester course covering the fundamentals of acoustics and their application to the sounds we hear and produce through music and musical instruments. The course requires no background in either science(physics) or music. Application will be taken from the fields of physics, engineering, psychology, speech, music, and musical instruments.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 205 - Energy and the Environment: A Global View
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
This course examines the global energy resources, practical uses of energy, usefulness of different energy resources, and impact of energy uses on the environment. This course also covers the principles underlying energy production and utilization.
Prerequisite: Minimum sophomore standing, or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 206 - Physics for Elementary Education Majors
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An introductory survey with laboratory, of the principles of physics, including: mechanics, energy and its transformations, sound, electricity and magnetism, and properties of materials.
Note: Open to elementary education majors only.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 4 -
PHY 212 - College Physics II
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A course in electricity, magnetism, light and nuclear physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 111
Co-requisite: Required laboratory
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 4 -
PHY 213 - General University Physics II
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
General principles of physics are taught in the areas of Electricity, Magnetism, Light, and Modern Physics using a calculus-based approach. (3 lectures and 1 lab.)
Prerequisite: PHY 112 and MAT 220 previously or concurrently.
Offered: Spring
Credit: 4 -
PHY 303 - Beginnings of Science: World View
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
This course explores the origins and diffusion of the early scientific ideas and practices that were the necessary foundations of what came to be known as “Modern Science”. Through case studies of several different ancient and medieval cultures and civilizations, we examine the nature of science; the contexts in which it flourished; the cultural exchanges by which it was diffused; the reasons for its occasional decline; and its impact on society.
Prerequisite: Upper division standing
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 313 - General University Physics III
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
General principles of physics are taught in the areas of Wave Motion, Light, Optics, Special Relativity, and Elementary Modern Physics using a calculus-based approach.
Prerequisite: PHY 213 and MAT 210 and MAT 220.
Offered: Fall
Credit: 3 -
PHY 313 LAB - General University Physics III Laboratory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An intermediate physics laboratory in mechanics, electricity, and optics designed to develop the analytical skills of students in order to prepare them for more specialized physics laboratory courses and undergraduate research.
Offered: Fall
Credit: 1 -
PHY 314 - Modern Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Elementary quantum mechanics and applications; optical and x-ray spectra, fine structures and Zeeman effects.
Prerequisite: PHY 313 OR CHE 341, and MAT 240 previously or concurrently.
Offered: Spring
Credit: 3 -
PHY 314 LAB - Modern Physics Laboratory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An intermediate physics laboratory in modern physics designed to demonstrate the quantum nature of matter and prepare students for more advanced physics laboratory courses. Typical experiments carried out by students include x-ray diffraction, excitation and ionization potentials in atoms, optical spectra, and gamma ray scattering.
Offered: Spring
Credit: 1 -
PHY 321 - Electronics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Basic physical principles of electronic devices and circuits.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 321 LAB - Electronics Laboratory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Electronica Laboratory to accompany PHY 321 lecture.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 1 -
PHY 322 - Optics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Fourier transforms and matrix theory in optics. Coherence, diffraction, Kirchoff’s integral, hologram, lasers.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 322 LAB - Optics Laboratory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Optics Laboratory to accompany PHY 322 lecture.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 1 -
PHY 335 - Mathematical Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Introduction to mathematics methods in physics. General coordinate systems, vector spaces and matrices. Fourier analysis, linear differential equations, orthogonal functions.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 340 - Thermodynamics and its Applications
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Laws of thermodynamics; heat engines, steam power plants, internal combustion engines, refrigeration; low temperature physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Spring.
Credit: 3 -
PHY 362 - Electrical Circuits and Machines
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A rigorous treatment of the basic principles of electric circuit theory and applications.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240
Offered: Fall
Credit: 4 -
PHY 363 - Materials Science
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
A rigorous treatment of the properties of crystalline and amorphous solids and the effects of impurities and defects on these properties. Metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites will be studied. A good understanding of these materials is needed in modern technology and science.
Prerequisite: PHY 314, MAT 240, CHE 111 and CHE 212.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 397 - Teaching Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Course for senior level students who are peer mentoring.
Note: Variable credit one to two with two maximum credits allowed.
Prerequisite: Instructor permission required.
Offered: Not on a regular basis.
-
PHY 423 - Quantum Physics II
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An introduction to the main concepts that have evolved in physics during the last half of the 20th century with particular emphasis on discoveries in the fields of nuclear, quantum, condensed matter, and high energy physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240
Offered: Fall
Credit: 3 -
PHY 423 LAB - Quantum Physics II Laboratory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An advanced physics laboratory in modern physics designed to demonstrate the quantum nature of matter and particles. Typical experiments carried out by students include optical fine structure, magnetic field effects on electronic states in atoms, pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance, and Coulomb scattering of protons.
Co-requisite: PHY 423
Offered: Fall
Credit: 1 -
PHY 431 - Advanced Laboratory in Nuclear Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
An advanced laboratory project in low energy nuclear physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 423 with lab, or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 435 - Computational Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
This course provides an introduction to standard numerical techniques for problem solving in physics. Programming languages (such as C++ and JAVA) and computer algebra system software (such as Maple) are used to generate the numerical solutions. Representative problems from dynamics, oscillatory motion, and quantum mechanics are featured.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 4 -
PHY 436 - Advanced Mechanics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation of mechanics; applications to satellite and rigid body motion. Relativistic mechanics.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240.
Offered: Spring
Credit: 3 -
PHY 437 - Advanced Quantum Mechanics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Basic principles of wave mechanics, theory of angular momentum, applications to physical systems.
Prerequisite: MAT 240 and either PHY 314 OR CHE 342.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 439 - Advanced Electromagnetic Theory
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Maxwell’s equations and their applications in electrodynamics and plasma physics.
Prerequisite: PHY 213 and MAT 240.
Offered: Fall
Credit: 3 -
PHY 467 - Special Topics in Physics
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Provides junior/senior physics students with in depth knowledge of one branch of physics. The course strengthens undergraduate knowledge of one branch of physics, bridges the gap between undergraduate and graduate level physics and leads in to PHY 496. Different topics will be studied each year, for example Astrophysics, Condensed Matter Physics, Nuclear Physics, etc. Students are expected to take this course only once, dealing with one special topic.
Prerequisite: PHY 314 and MAT 240, or instructor permission.
Offered: Not on a regular basis
Credit: 3 -
PHY 496 - Senior Research Project
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
The senior research project provides an opportunity to better understand the role of theoretical and experimental research in physics by carrying out independent research under the close supervision of a faculty member. This research project involves reviewing the physics literature, conferencing with the faculty supervisor, and independent research or laboratory work if the project is experimental.
Prerequisite: PHY 423 with lab, or instructor permission.
Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit: 3 -
PHY 499 - Independent Study
2018-2019 Catalog Year:
Individual study in the field of physics under the direct supervision of a department faculty member.
Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
Offered: Spring
Credit: 1 to 3
|
Print this Page