Graduate Elective Courses

Graduate Elective Courses which may be taken in the Baylor Physics graduate program. In addition to these, several advanced undergraduate courses, including 4322, 4340, 4350, 4351, 4360, 4372, 4373, and 4374, may be taken for graduate credit.

PHY 5155  Advanced In-Situ Instrumentation Techniques  (1)  
Cross-listed as ENV 5155  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 4155, 4350, and concurrent enrollment in 4351  
Computer modeling and instrument design and development of detectors for the in-situ measurement of physical and dynamic characteristics of dust in interplanetary space and planetary ring systems.

PHY 5199  Non-Thesis Degree Completion  (1)  
To fulfill requirements for non-thesis master's students who need to complete final degree requirements other than coursework during their last semester. This may include such things as a comprehensive examination, oral examination, or foreign language requirement. Students are required to be registered during the semester they graduate.

PHY 5321  Classical Mechanics II  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5320  
Small oscillations; canonical transformations, Hamilton-Jacobi theory; canonical perturbation theory; Lagrangian and Hamiltonian densities, critical points, Lyapunov exponents, bifurcations, chaos, noise, and other topics in non-linear dynamics.

PHY 5342  Solid State Physics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 4372 and 5370
Theory of solids: crystal symmetry, lattice dynamics, band theory, lattice defects, impurity states. Applications to the thermal, magnetic, and electrical properties of solids.

PHY 5350  Fundamentals of Stellar Structure and Evolution  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 4350 and 4351  
Stellar structure, hydrostatic equilibrium, radiative transfer, stellar surface phenomena, and corona interactions. Cosmical electrodynamics and nuclear reactions in astrophysics, basic stellar evolution, variable stars, degenerate cores, white dwarfs, and neutron stars.

PHY 5351  General Relativity  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5360  
A systematic exposition of Einstein's general theory of relativity, with emphasis on applications to astrophysical and cosmological problems.

PHY 5352  Space Plasma Physics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 4322 and 5360 (concurrently) or consent of the instructor  
Space plasma and electromagnetic field phenomena; the guiding center drift equation(with applications); adiabatic invariant theory; the basic equations of magnetohydrodynamics; plasma convection, currents (including Chapman-Ferraro currents and ring currents), oscillations; magnetohydrodynamic boundaries, diffusion, waves, shocks, and instabilities.

PHY 5361  Mathematical Physics II  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5360 or consent of instructor  
Conformal mapping, electrostatic problems, dispersion relations, asymptotic expansions, method of steepest descent, calculus of variations, Rayleigh-Ritz principle, finite-dimensional vector spaces, matrix theory, orthogonal transformations, normal coordinates, Hilbert vector spaces, unitary transformations, resolvent operators, operator calculus, integral equations, and approximate methods for solution of boundary value problems.

PHY 5362  Computational Insight  (3)
Pre-requisite(s): Recommended: CSI 1430 or PHY 2360, PHY 3175 and PHY 3176, or by permission of instructor  
This is a practicum in computer programming, statistical methods and data analysis. The goal of the class is to provide students with the general tools needed for data analysis in experimental physics, computational analysis observational astrophysics, and related research topics. Students will learn to use Python and R for data analysis; use best practices in data visualization; understand what questions are addressed by correlation tests, hypothesis tests, and model fitting; define and perform model fitting in both a frequentest and Bayesian framework; understand various Monte Carlo sampling techniques, data simulation methods, and model validation; provide statistical error estimation; selecting between models; and other related topics.

PHY 5377  Semiconductor Quantum Optics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5370 or CHE 5325 and PHY 5330 or ELC 5336; or permission of the instructor  
Quantized electric and magnetic fields, photons, Fock states, quantum vacuum, Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian, density matrix approaches, semiconductor Bloch equations, Tavis-Cummings Hamiltonian, Linblad Equation, Bell states, ¿ and V potentials, Quantum Beats, Rabi oscillations, coherent states, squeezed light, many-body Hamiltonian, quasiparticles in semiconductors, excitons, plasmons, polaritons, dephasing, Hubbard model, t-J model, Ising model, magnetism, superconductivity.

PHY 5381 Special Topics in Physics (3)
Pre-requisite(s): Consent of instructor and the departmental adviser.
Selected topics in physics. May be repeated once with change of content.

PHY 5V95 Graduate Research 1 to 9 sem. hrs.
Pre-requisite(s): Consent of student's research supervisor and departmental adviser.
The research is intended for those students who have not yet passed the Ph.D. qualifying examination and who have not yet selected a Ph.D. dissertation topic. May be repeated for no more than twelve semester hours of credit. (Not to be counted on master's degree).

PHY 5V99 Thesis 1 to 6 sem. hrs.
Pre-requisite(s): Twelve semester hours of graduate work and consent of the department.

PHY 6350 Relativistic Astrophysics (3)
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5350 and 5351  
Relativistic astrophysics, and the final stages of stellar evolution; supernovae, binary stars, accretion disks, pulsars; extragalactic radio sources; active galactic nuclei; compact objects.

PHY 6351  Cosmology  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5350 and 5351  
Cosmology: extragalactic distance determinations; relativist relativistic cosmological models; galaxy formation and clustering; thermal history of the universe, microwave background; cosmological tests, advanced topics in general relativity.

PHY 6352  High-Energy Astrophysics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5330, 5340, 5360 and 5370  
Radiative transfer, scattering, the interaction of matter and radiation, atomic and molecular structure, magnetohydrodynamics and plasma physics, accretion disks and spiral density waves.

PHY 6370  Advanced Quantum Mechanics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5371
Identical particles and symmetry, self-consistent field theory, spin and angular momenta, electromagnetic interactions, semiclassical radiation theory, many-body perturbation theory, topics in scattering theory. Applications to atomic, molecular, and nuclear systems.

PHY 6371  Relativistic Quantum Mechanics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5371  
Klein-Gordon equation, Dirac equation, solutions of Dirac equation for scattering and bound states, non relativistic limits of Dirac solutions, hole theory, Feynman diagrams, quantum electrodynamics, renormalization procedures, non-electromagnetic processes, solutions.

PHY 6372  Elementary Particle Physics  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 5371  
Basic concepts of elementary particle physics; symmetries, groups, and invariance principles; hadron-hadron interactions; static quark model of hadrons; weak interactions; brief introduction to quantum chromodynamics.

PHY 6373  Quantum Field Theory I  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 4374, 5370, 5371, or 6371; or consent of instructor  
Second quantization of free fields, second quantization of interacting fields, elementary processes - Q.E.D. and non-Q.E.D. examples, perturbation theory methods for higher-order processes; renormalization theory; path integral realization of quantum field theory.

PHY 6374  Quantum Field Theory II  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 6373  
Modern formulation of quantum field theory; quantization and renormalization of gauge theories, both Abelian and non-Abelian; third quantization; applications in the Q.E.D. example; SU2(L) x U1 theory; quantum chromodynamics; grand unified theories; theories of everything including quantum gravity such as the superstring theory.

PHY 6375  Quantum Field Theory III  (3)  
Pre-requisite(s): PHY 6374  
Continuation of 6374: Detailed theory of higher order corrections to Standard Model and beyond the Standard Model processes; detailed presentation of recent developments in superunification, superstring/M theory, superstring field theory, and other approaches to quantum general relativity, depending on the instructor. May be repeated for credit by instructor for a maximum of nine credits.

PHY 6380 Special Topics in Advanced Physics
Pre-requisite(s): Consent of student's graduate committee.
Special topics which are related to specialized fields of research sponsored in the department. May be repeated once with change of content.

PHY 6V00 Dissertation Proposal 1 to 9 sem. hrs.
Pre-requisite(s): Permission of Physics Graduate Program Director.
Research for doctoral students studying for preliminary examinations or preparing their dissertation topic proposals.

PHY 6V99 Dissertation 1 to 12 sem. hrs.
Pre-requisite(s): Consent of the student's supervisory committee and admission to candidacy.
A minimum of twelve semester hours is required.