What is the Curriculum for a Bachelor's Degree in Physics?

[sony]

Hi,

I'm curious about what your curriculum and book list look like.

I've looked at the webpage of the university I'll begin at this fall, and was a bit perplexed to see that many courses are based on custom made issues (for courses like mechanics and such), not books. Also, in the 1. and 2. semester there's only mathematics (diff.eq, calculus, linear algebra, books by: Robert A. Adams, David C. Lay, and William E. Boyce), and no physics... ?

So, is this normal? Could you guys tell how the beginning of your bachelor degree looks like?

Book recommendations would be great. I don't mind spending a couple of 100 dollars (or more), to ensure me surviving my degree...

 

[dextercioby]

You can't be a physicist,unless you some mathematics,so the first year of uni studies are for mathematical preparation and intro.physics courses.Serious matter should start in the second year.

My first year had
*Mathematical Analysis
*Abstract & Linear Algebra.
*Analytical & Differential Geometry.

for the maths part.And intro to mathematical physics alongside
*CTPCN formulation of nonrelativistic thermodynamics.
*Electricity & Magnetism.
*Classical Mechanics (the Newtonian formulation of Classical Particle Mechanics).
*General Chemistry (intro course for the physics stud.)

Daniel.

 

[marlon]

In my first year i had

calculus (one and multiple variables)
linear algebra
analytical and differential geometry
theoretical mechanics (classical mechanics of point particles and intro to Euler equations and the Hamilton and Lagrange formalism)
intro to EM/special relativity
intro to optics
intro to scientific philosophy/science
programming (JAVA)


second year

QM introduction

intro to nuclear physics

intro to atomic physics

intro to relativistic mechanics (special relativity that is)

thermodynamics

complex calculus (complex integration, Z-transform, distributions, Laplace transform and the invers bromwich integral)

statistics

computational physics (the stuff on Newton Cotes, Peano, Sturm Liouville)

intro to astrophysics and spherical tri-geometry

mechanics of rigid bodies, Euler kinematics

crystallography : boring

Electromagnetism : the stuff on Green-functions and potentials, skin effect, cerenkov radiation, Lienard-Wiechert potentials and a little intro on plasma physics, local Maxwell equations,...



marlon

 

[dextercioby]

Here is the latest thread on physics books reccomandations.Actually there's a pretty solid list in my post on the second page.

Daniel.

 

[Dracovich]

"I've looked at the webpage of the university I'll begin at this fall, and was a bit perplexed to see that many courses are based on custom made issues (for courses like mechanics and such), not books."

A few courses were run like this in my school, part of my calculus was run like this, and all of linear algebra (they issued bound "notes" they sold to us for about 15$, made by professors at the school). In relativity our teacher had his own notes he teached from, and then recommended another book if we wanted extra reading. So without knowing how it is at other schools, i'd say it's not uncommon, and i rather liked it, since i saved lots of money on books by buying cheaper notes that he taught from.

As far as recommendations, i just finished (the exam is in 12 hours :) ) an intro to EM and we used Griffiths "Introduction to electrodynamics", and i think it's the best book I've read. It's really clear and easy to read, always stops to explain things when you might be wondering about something he just said.

 

[Nusc]

Marlon where are you going to school?

 

[Maxos]

I year (number of credits: measuring the Student's required commitment)

I sem.
Introduction to Physics 4
Calculus I-II (functions of 1 real variable) 8
Geometry and linear algebra 6
Intro to Inf.Tech. 4
Chemistry 6
English 4

II sem.
Mechanics 8
Calculus III 4
Programming I (intro to C++) 4
Laboratory I (Mechanics, thermology) 8
Compl. of geometry (spect. theory,diff.geom) 4



II year

Electrom. 8
Calculus IV 4
Analytic Mechanics 4
Programming II 4
Group theory 4
Free choice (maybe archit. of computers) 4

Thermodynamics 4
Waves and Optics 4
Statistical Mechanics 4
Laboratory II (El., optics, therm.) 8
Relativity and Quanta 6
Diff. equations 4



III year

Intro to quantum Mechanics 6
Mathematic methods for Physics I 6
Intro to Physics of Matter 6
Intro to Physics of the solid state 4
Intro to Mathematic Physics 4
Laboratory of modern Physics 8

Nuclei and Particles 4
Probabilistic methods for Physics 4
Mathematic methods for Physics II 4
Training 10
Thesis 6

 

[neurocomp2003]

what exactly do you guys learn in differential geometry in first year? I'm thinking we just call it calculus in Canada but i could bt wrong.
To get my astrophysics minor..

First year
Physics I Intro Physics II Modern
CHem I Chem II
Calc I Calc II
Alg I
Psych I

2nd year
Vector Calculus
linAlg
DEs
Numerical Methods
E&M
AnalMech&SR(combined)

3rd year
Astrophysics I: Stellarphysics
QM I: Modern
MathPhys I

4th year
Astrophysics II: Cosmology
QM II: Quantum

5th year
Relativity
Computational Physics

courses that i wanted to take AnalMech Advanced(classical Mech)
& a course in particle physics that I wanted to create with a Dr. Pudritz willing to teach
but I only got 5/10 students required to make the course...

 

[Nusc]

Differential Geometry is not Calculus.

 

[Maxos]

Differential geometry deals with: parametric curves, torsion, Frénet frame and formulae, surfaces ecc...

Calculus is the same as Analisis: real and vectorial functions, limits, differential calculus, integral calculus, series, variational calculus, differential equations ecc...

 

[Brad Barker]

man, belgium is hardcore!

i'm at the university of florida, and this is what a double major in math and physics looks like, with the honors physics course sequence. (ie, what I'm doing):

first sem
enriched physics I and physics I lab
chem I and chem I lab
calc II

second sem
enriched physics II and physics II lab
chem II
calc III
diff eq

summer
functions of a complex variable

third sem
thermal physics
intro to theoretical physics (really should be called mathematical methods; it substitutes for mechanics I)
linear algebra

fourth sem
EM 1
classical mech II (known as analytical mechanics elsewhere)
enriched modern physics

fifth sem
EM 2
quantum mechanics I
mathematical statistics I: intro to probability

sixth sem
quantum mechanics II
stat mech
abstract algebra

seventh sem
advanced lab I
advanced calc I

eighth sem
advanced lab II
advanced calc II


this gives a good idea of what's required for both degrees, although the order is certainly not unique. i also want to squeeze in intermediate differential equations and partial differential equations, and take intro to solid-state, which is an introductory grad-level course here.

 

[neurocomp2003]

Differential geometry deals with: parametric curves, torsion, Frénet frame and formulae, surfaces ecc...

Is that for first year Differential Geometry?

anyhow in Canada we include parametric Curves,Torsion and surfaces as part of Calculus first year.

 

[robphy]

Freshman Year: --as an EE major

Analytic Geometry, Vectors, Matrices
Calculus I, II
Physics I (Tipler)
Engineering Design
Computer Programming
General Chemistry
Physical Chemistry

(summer)
Vector Calculus
ODEs

Sophomore Year:

Electric Circuits
Engineering Mechanics (Beer-Johnston)
Physics II (Tipler)
Probability

--- started to drop out of EE
Modern Physics (Tipler)
Computer Graphics
Selected Topics in Math
Classical Mechanics (Goldstein)
PDEs (Berg)

Junior Year: --transferred, now a Math and Physics major

Math Methods/ODE (Kreyszig)
Differential Geometry (curves)
EM (Purcell)
Mechanics (Symon)
Lab

Math Methods/Complex (Marsden)
Differential Geometry (surfaces) (Kreyszig?)
EM II (notes)
Quantum (French-Taylor)
Relativity (Skinner)
Special Topics

Senior Year:

Abstract Algebra (Fraleigh?)
Topology
Thermo (Kittel)
Quantum II
Tutorial Advanced Topics: GR (Lawden)
EM-G (Ohanian)

Linear Algebra (Lang)
Lab
EM II-G (Ohanian)
Relativity-G (Landau/Lifshit[/color]z)
+my last 4 humanities courses (ugh...)

I should add that a few of these courses were not required by the program... some of them I just really wanted to take.

 

[ek]

Astronomy Major.

Year 1:

Mechanics I
Mechanics II
Calculus I
Calculus II
Java

Year 2:

Electronics
Quantum Physics
EM I
Astronomy I
Astronomy II
Calculus III
Calculus IV

Year 3:

Thermodynamics
Optics
EM II
Extragalactic Astronomy
Solar System
Applied Diff Eqs
Partial Diff Eqs
Calculus V
Complex Variables

Year 4:

Atomic/Molecular Physics
Nuclear Physics
Quantum Mechanics I
Astrophysics I
Astrophysics II
Radio Astronomy
Galactic Astronomy

Right now I'm in the middle of second year. This fall I take Electronics, Calculus III, Astronomy II and my elective which is Geophysics.

 

[CaptainQuaser]

Honours UofM

Year 1

Mechanics
Waves and Modern Physics
Calculus 1
Calculus 2
Linear Algebra

Electives (in my case)
Elements of Discrete Mathematics
Science and Religion
Evil in World Religions
Death and Concepts of the future

Year 2

Optics + 1/2 lab
Introduction to Theoretical Physics
Quantum Physics 1
Electromagnetic Feild Theory
Circuit Theory + 1/2 lab
Classical Mechanics 1
Calculus 3A

Electives (in my case)
Astronomy

Year 3

Thermodynamics
Classical Mechanics 2
Electromagnetism and Special Relativity
Quantum Physics 2
Honours Physics Lab
Linear Spaces for Physicists
Applied Complex Analysis

Electives (I'm currently undecided)

Year 4

Quantum Physics 3
Introduction to Nuclear Physics
Introduction to Solid State Physics
Honours Physics Lab

Electives (Not there yet)


So that's what my undergrad looks like

 

[marlon]

Marlon where are you going to school?

University of Ghent in Belgium
http://www.ugent.be/

marlon

 

[marlon]

Differential geometry deals with: parametric curves, torsion, Frénet frame and formulae, surfaces ecc...

correct,

we also studied those subjects all together with stuff like Gauss curvature, Gauss's Theorema Egregium,..

marlon

 

[Nylex]

In my first year of Physics and Astrophysics, I had:

Core Physics 1: Classical Mechanics and Relativity, Optics and Waves, Quantum Mechanics
Core Physics 2: Electromagnetism, Electric Circuits, Temperature and Matter (mostly thermodynamics, some stuff like bulk modulus, too)
Physical Maths 1 (algebra, complex numbers, vectors, differentiation, applications of differentiation)
Physical Maths 2 (integration, first and second order differential equations, partial derivatives, multiple integrals)
Intro to Astronomy
Physics Lab 1
Astrolab
Physics and Communication Skills (waste of time. We did some computing, firstly word processing and spreadsheets, then MathCad. We also did a group poster and had to write an essay and give a talk to our tutorial groups)

 

[marlon]

Physics and Communication Skills (waste of time. We did some computing, firstly word processing and spreadsheets, then MathCad. We also did a group poster and had to write an essay and give a talk to our tutorial groups)

This is so hard to imagine for me. In our universities i really do not know of any specific subjects on this matter.

marlon

 

[Dracovich]

Well if we're doing years, then i have:

Math Intro (assumes decent knowledge of calculus, goes into multiple variables etc)
Linear Algebra
Math for physicists (PDE's and vector calculus)
Classical mechanics,
Special relativity
Thermodynamics (mostly statistical)
Electromagnetism (just finished today \o/ )
And one physics based elective (astro/bio/geo)

Then after this first yaer it all depends on what path you choose, everyone has two quantum courses, and other then that it's (physics) electives.

 

[Nylex]

This is so hard to imagine for me. In our universities i really do not know of any specific subjects on this matter.

marlon

Yeah, I'm not sure how common over here courses like that are. Most universities here seem to teach programming as part of the first year computing, but we had to get office stuff and MathCad . The word processing stuff they made us to seemed to be the most pointless thing. We were given documents, like biographies of physicists with images and text and had to reproduce them exactly. I mean, come on, it's not hard to format documents. The students that just finished their first year had C++ instead of the spreadsheets/word processing.

 

[Maxos]

Differential geometry deals with: parametric curves, torsion, Frénet frame and formulae, surfaces ecc...

Is that for first year Differential Geometry?

anyhow in Canada we include parametric Curves,Torsion and surfaces as part of Calculus first year.

Yes for the first year.

Actually, the subject is included in both "Calculus III" (for integrals) and "Complements of Geometry" (more specifically)

 

[neurocomp2003]

do you guys ha e course called vector calculus? Topics include
div/curl, flowe field, parametric Curves and Surfaces,torsion/BNK-B(don't remember the term?/Normal/curvature,
triple integrals, stokes Theorem Gauss theorem

 

[dextercioby]

Nope,those were parts from our Analysis and Intro to Mathematical Physics courses.

Daniel.

 

[asvani]

Year 1:

• Physics 1 - Mechanics and Thermodynamics
• Physics 2 - Electromagnetism and Optics
• Physics 3 - Modern Physics
• Mathematical Methods of Physics 1 - Multivariable/Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra and ODE.
• Calculus
• C programming

Year 2:

• Quantum Mechanics 1
• Electricity and Magnetism 1
• Classical Mechanics
• Mathematical Methods of Physics 2 - Special Functions, Complex Calculus and PDE.
• Optics
• Thermal and Statistical Physics
• Lab.

 

[Nusc]

Year 1:

• Physics 1 - Mechanics and Thermodynamics
• Physics 2 - Electromagnetism and Optics
• Physics 3 - Modern Physics
• Mathematical Methods of Physics 1 - Multivariable/Vector Calculus, Linear Algebra and ODE.
• Calculus
• C programming

Year 2:

• Quantum Mechanics 1
• Electricity and Magnetism 1
• Classical Mechanics
• Mathematical Methods of Physics 2 - Special Functions, Complex Calculus and PDE.
• Optics
• Thermal and Statistical Physics
• Lab.

That's super fast!

 

[asvani]

Not really. Anyway, for me, the 3rd and 4th years went something like this.

Year 3

• Quantum Mechanics II (time-independent perturbation theory, hilbert space structure, matrix mechanics, etc)
• Eletromagnetism II (Maxwell's equations - waveguides, oscillating dipoles, etc)
• Nuclear and Particle Physics (An intro course with little theory)
• Mathematical Methods of Physics III (Tensor Calculus, Group Theory and Euler-Lagrange variational methods)
• Solid State Physics I (Electronic and phonon stuff)
• Atomic and Molecular Physics I (Spectroscopy stuff)
• Lab
• Computational Physics (Monte Carlo and Molecular dynamics)

Year 4

• Quantum Mechanics III (At the level of Sakurai - Time-dependent perturbation theory, second quantization, identical particles, angular momentum, scattering, etc)
• Statistical Mechanics (At the level of Kerson Huang)
• Electrodynamics (SR and Maxwell's equations in matter - kramers-kronig relation, diffraction, etc)
• Solid State Physics II
• Mathematical Methods of Physics IV (Differential forms and Lie groups)
• Advanced Analytical Techniques (Lecture course on materials characterization - eg. AFM, TEM, STM, XPS, SIMS, Auger, RBS, PIXE)
• Atomic and Molecular Physics II (More spectroscopy)
• General Relativity (An intro course - we got to learn up to gravitational redshift and gravitation waves, no exotic differential geometry stuff)
• Computational Condensed Matter Physics (Hartree-Fock, DFT, etc)

I must confess that I've forgotten a lot since I graduated.

 

[sony]

Thanks for the replys. Looks like some of you have more exstensive programmes.

Here's how my looks:
1. Semester
Ex.phil (obligatory philosophy nonsense for every univ. student)
Mathematics (entry)
Mathematics and science

2.
Mathematics II
Linear algebra
Diff.eq

3.
Mechanics I
Perspective in physics
Functions of multiple variables

4.
EM and optics
Mechanics II and thermodynamics
Elementry measuring techniques

5.
Quantum physics, signal analysis
Laboratory work (project)
Custom

6.
Custom

In addition, there are courses you choose yourself, like programming (I don't know what I'll choose now.)

Cheers

 

[MalleusScientiarum]

As far as actual physics/math courses go, here is my experience. It's a little more accelerated than the actual curriculum, but all the stuff is still there.

Semester 1
Honors Physics I
Calculus II (at my school it's a mixture of Taylor series and linear algebra)

Semester 2
Honors Physics II
Calculus III (Multivariable/vector calculus)

Semester 3
Quantum Mechanics I
Electro- & Magnetostatics
Abstract Vector Spaces (a more advanced linear algebra course)
Differential Equations
Introduction to Modern Physics (an overview course, fairly useless)

Semester 4
Thermodynamics
Electrodynamics
Classical Mechanics I
Quantum Mechanics II
Combinatorics

Semester 5
Real Analysis I
Statistical Mechanics
Advanced Lab I
Graduate Classical Mechanics I
Graduate Quantum Mechanics I

Semester 6
Graduate Quantum Mechanics II
Complex Analysis
Real Analysis II
Graduate Statistical Mechanics

(from here is a speculative schedule)

Semester 7
Computing for Engineers (mostly MATLAB)
Graduate Condensed Matter Physics I
Many-Body Problem in Quantum Mechanics (graduate level)

Semester 8
Advanced Lab II
Graduate Condensed Matter Physics II
Graduate Classical Mechanics II

 

[Brad Barker]

do you guys ha e course called vector calculus? Topics include
div/curl, flowe field, parametric Curves and Surfaces,torsion/BNK-B(don't remember the term?/Normal/curvature,
triple integrals, stokes Theorem Gauss theorem

yeah, the university of florida--and I'm pretty sure most american universities--have this.

interestingly, at my school one cannot use this course towards a mathematics major if he has taken EM 1! i figure that this is because EM 1 is essentially an entire course dedicated to applications of vector calculus.

ah well, i'll get it in intro to theoretical in the fall, anyway.

 

[Son Goku]

Here is my degree: (Theoretical Physics in Ireland):

1st year:
General Physics I
General Physics II
Calculus in one real variable.
Introductory Statistics
Elementary Number Theory
Newtonian Mechanics I + Special Relativity
Newtonian Mechanics II
Java

2nd year:
Classical Mechanics I
ElectroMagnetism (Two semester course)
Electronics
Astronomy and Astronomical Instrumentation
Advanced Statistics
Linear Algebra
Calculus of Several Variables and PDEs
Mathematical Methods I(application of the above)
Thermodynamics
Quantum Mechanics (Introduction)

3rd Year:
Classical Mechanics 2
Special Relativity
Mathematical Methods I (Methods of solving ODEs.)
Complex Analysis
Computational Physics
Fluid dynamics
Classical Field theory
Introductory General Relativity
Statistical Mechanics
Stars and Galactic Evolution
Quantum Mechanics

4th year:
Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics
Advanced Quantum Mechanics(Year long)
Advanced Electromagnetism*
Solid State Physics
Cosmology
Particle Physics and Introductory QFT.
Choas and Nonlinear Dynamics
Computational Physics
Quantum Computing

*Basically a course on extracting phenomenology from a theory using EM as an example.

 

[Igor_S]

Haven't seen this thread before. These are my courses, this is called something like "Experimental physics major" in my country. Its not much of difference compared to "theoretical" (the only basic difference being Relativistic QM instead of Electronics lab, and I think 2 different minor courses).


1st year


1st semester (1st half):

General physics 1 (mechanics, Berkeley textbook)
Mathematical analysis 1 (calculus)
Linear Algebra 1 (groups, homomorphisms, rings, fields, vectors, 3D geometry)
Probability theory and math statistics
General and inorganic chemistry
English language

2nd semester (2nd half):

General physics 2 (EM, Berkeley 2)
Physics lab 1 (mechanics)
Mathematical analysis 2
Linear Algebra 2 (linear operators, matrices, linear eq, eigenstuff, unitary spaces)
English language (continued... -> only this course is 2 years long)


2nd year


3rd semester (1st half):

General physics 3 (waves,optics, Berkeley 3)
Intro to structure of the matter (QM intro; Eisberg, Resnick)
Physics lab 2 (EM)
Classical mechanics 1 (Goldstein textbook)
Mathematical methods in physics (complex analysis, curve integrals, ODEs & PDEs, special functions)
English language (...continued...)

4th semester

General physics 4 (therm, QM: Berkeley 4)
Intro to structure of the matter (continued) -> these courses are 1 year long
Classical mechanics 2 (Goldstein)
Mathematical methods in physics (continued)
Physics lab 3 (waves,optics)
English language (...continued, heh finaly over !


3rd year


5th semester:

Classical electrodynamics (Jackson textbook)
Quantum physics (various textbooks: Schiff, Sakurai, Merzbacher, ...)
Statistical physics (same as Huangs "Stat mech")
Microelectronics (huge course, textbooks: Groove, Millman)
Numerical math, programming and statistics (basically numerical methods and Fortran programming)
Physics lab 4 (therm, QM)
Experimental techniques in physics
Intro to energetics

6th semester

Classical electrodynamics (continued)
Quantum physics (continued)
Statistical physics (continued)
Numerical math, programming and statistics (continued)
Physics lab 5 (mixed stuff)
General and inorganic chemistry lab
Intro to physics of materials
Intro to energetics (continued)


4th year


7th semester

Solid state physics (texts: Kittel & Ashcroft,Mermin)
Nuclear physics (Wong text)
Elementary particles physics (Griffiths and profs own textbook)
Physics of experimental methods
Modern physics and philosophy (history of physics)
Cosmology
student seminars in experimental physics (everybody does a research, writes about it and presents it to other students)
Electronics lab
Physics of metals and alloys
Lowtemperature physics and superconductivity
Spectroscopy of ionized gasses

8th semester

Solid state physics (continued)
Nuclear physics (continued)
Elementary particles physics (continued)
Physics of experimental methods (continued)
Modern physics and philosophy (interpretations of QM)
Elementary particles lab
Astrophysics and cosmology (general relativity)
Physics of disordered systems

 

[Kalimaa23]

Bachelor

First year :

Calculus (including multivariable andn vector)
Linear Algebra (including analytical geometry)
Abstract Algebra I
General Physics (mechanics, thermo, E&M)
Programming (JAVA)
General Chemistry
Labwork

Second year :

Electrodynamics & Relativity
Analytical Mechanics
Statistics
Electronics
Solid State & Radiation physics
Labwork
Topology
Abstract Algebra II
Functional Analysis
Numerical Analysis
Projective & Affine geometry
Intro to QM

 

[Pietjuh]

My first year:

Semester 1:
- Special Relativity
- Optics
- Introduction to astrophysics
- Communication skills
- Experimental work
- Programming (C++)
- Introduction to mathematical structures (permutations, groups, metric spaces)
- Caleidoscoop mathematics
- Calculus I
- Linear Algebra I

Semester 2:
- Electromagnetism I
- Classical Mechanics I
- Abstract Algebra I
- Probability and Statistics I
- Experimental work
- Calculus 2
- Introduction to biophysics

 

[maria curie]

FIRST YEAR

First Semester
PHYS 109 Mechanics (5-2)6
CHEM 101 General Chemistry I (4-2)5
MATH 151 Calculus I (4-2)5
ENG 101 Development of Reading and Writing Skills I (4-0)4

Second Semester
PHYS 110 Electromagnetism (5-2)6
CHEM 102 General Chemistry II (4-2)5
MATH 152 Calculus II (4-2)5
ENG 102 Development of Reading and Writing Skills II (4-0)4
IS 100 Introduction to Information Technologies and Applications NC

SECOND YEAR

Third Semester
PHYS 203 Introductory Electronics (3-2)4
PHYS 209 Math. Methods in Phys. I (4-0)4
PHYS 221 Optics and Waves (4-0)4
MATH 260 Basic Linear Algebra (3-0)3
HIST 2201 Principles of Kemal Atatürk I NC

Fourth Semester
PHYS 202 Modern Physics (4-0)4
PHYS 210 Math. Methods in Phys. II (4-0)4
PHYS 222 Optics and Waves Lab. (1-4)3
ENG 211 Academic Oral Presentation
Skills (3-0)3
HIST 2202 Principles of Kemal Atatürk II NC
Elective

THIRD YEAR

Fifth Semester
PHYS 311 Classical Mechanics (4-2)5
PHYS 307 Applied Modern Physics Laboratory (1-4)3
TURK 303 Turkish I NC
Elective
Elective

Sixth Semester
PHYS 300 Quantum Physics (3-0)3
PHYS 334 Electromagnetic Theory (4-2)5
TURK 304 Turkish II NC
ENG 311 Adv. Commun. Skills (3-0)3
Elective
Elective

FOURTH YEAR

Seventh Semester
PHYS 431 Quantum Mechanics I (4-0)4
PHYS 400 Special Problems in Physics (2-2)3
Elective
Elective

Eighth Semester
PHYS 430 Stat. Thermodynamics (4-0)4
Elective
Elective
Elective