1052 (PHYS 1404). The Solar System. 3 hours. (3;2) History of astronomy and the physical properties of the earth, moon, planets and minor bodies. Includes weekly outdoor and indoor laboratory exercises.
1062 (PHYS 1403). Stars and the Universe. 3 hours. (3;2) Properties of stars and stellar systems and a study of the origin, evolution and future of the universe. Includes weekly outdoor and indoor laboratory exercises.
1210 (PHYS 1415). Conceptual Physics. 3 hours. (3;3) Principles and applications of mechanics, heat, sound, light, electricity and atomic physics for the elementary education major.
1270. Science and Technology of Musical Sound. 3 hours. (3;2) Sound production; nature of vibrations in percussion, string, and wind instruments. Sound propagation; sound speed; echoes. Sound intensity, physical and perceived. Sound pitch, physical and perceived; intervals. Complex sounds; harmonic series. Room acoustics; reverberation time; ideal listening rooms. Wave phenomena; interference and diffraction. Digital sound recording; musical scales; the human voice. Includes weekly laboratory exercises.
1315 (PHYS 1410). Introduction to the World of Physics. 3 hours (3;3) Basic principles and concepts of physics for the liberal arts major necessary to the understanding of our increasingly technological environment and the science on which it is based; current ideas concerning the micro world and the universe at large. Topics include mechanics; properties of matter; heat; sound; electricity and magnetism; light; and atomic, nuclear and fundamental particle physics. Includes weekly laboratory exercises.
1316. Essential Physics. 3 hours. (3;3) Principles and concepts of physics essential to the understanding of modern technological society by the liberal arts major are examined in their cultural context. Topics include Newtonian mechanics, relativity, light, electromagnetic theory, atomic physics, quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. Includes weekly laboratory exercises.
1410-1420. General Physics. 3 hours each. (3;0;1) Non-calculus based physics sequence suitable for life sciences majors and preprofessional students.
1410 (PHYS 1301). General Physics I. Principles and applications of mechanics, sound and heat.
1420 (PHYS 1302). General Physics II. Principles and applications of electricity, magnetism, light and atomic physics.
1430-1440. Laboratory Sequence for General Physics. 1 hour each. (0;3) Laboratory to accompany the course sequence 1410-1420.
1430 (PHYS 1101). General Physics Laboratory I. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 1410 (may be taken concurrently). May be used to satisfy a portion of the Natural Sciences requirement of the University Core Curriculum.
1440 (PHYS 1102). General Physics Laboratory II. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 1420 (may be taken concurrently). May be used to satisfy a portion of the Natural Sciences requirement of the University Core Curriculum.
1510-1520. General Physics with Calculus Sequence. 3 hours each. (3;0;1) Calculus-based physics sequence suitable for future science teachers and for pre-medicine and other health-related preprofessional students.
1510. General Physics I with Calculus. Principles and applications of mechanics, sound and heat.
1520. General Physics II with Calculus. Principles and applications of electricity, magnetism, light, atomic and nuclear physics.
1530-1540. Laboratory Sequence for General Physics with Calculus. 1 hour each. (0;3) Laboratory to accompany the course sequence 1510-1520.
1530. General Physics with Calculus Laboratory I. Laboratory to accompany PHYS 1510.
1540. General Physics with Calculus Laboratory II. Laboratory to accompany PHYS 1520.
1710-2220-3010. General Technical Physics. 3 hours each. (3;0;1) Calculus-based physics sequence suitable for physics, engineering physics, engineering technology, mathematics, computer science and chemistry majors.
1710 (PHYS 2325). Mechanics. Laws of motion; inertia, acceleration, force, energy, momentum and angular momentum. Rotational and oscillatory motion. Gravitation.
2220 (PHYS 2326). Electricity and Magnetism. Electric fields, dc and ac circuits, magnetic fields and magnetic induction. Electric and magnetic properties of matter.
3010. Modern Physics. Relativity, quantum physics, atomic structure, properties of matter and nuclear physics.
1730-2240-3030. Laboratory Sequence for General Technical Physics. 1 hour each. (0;3) Laboratory to accompany the course sequence 1710-2220-3010.
1730 (PHYS 2125). Laboratory in Mechanics. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 1710 (may be taken concurrently). May be used to satisfy a portion of the Natural Sciences requirement of the University Core Curriculum.
2240 (PHYS 2126). Laboratory in Wave Motion, Electricity, Magnetism and Optics. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 2220 (may be taken concurrently). May be used to satisfy a portion of the Natural Sciences requirement of the University Core Curriculum.
3030. Laboratory in Modern Physics. Prerequisite(s): PHYS 3010 (may be taken concurrently).
2900-2910. Special Problems. 1–3 hours each. Individualized instruction in theoretical or experimental problems. For elective credit only.
3210-3220. Mechanics. 3 hours each. (3;0;1)
3210. Vector treatment of the motion of a particle in one, two and three dimensions; motion of a system of particles; conservation laws; the statics of fluids and solids; the motion of rigid bodies.
3220. Gravitation; moving coordinate systems; mechanics of continuous media; generalized coordinates and the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of mechanics; applications of tensors to rotation of rigid bodies; theory of small vibrations.
3310. Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Application of advanced mathematical techniques to the solution of problems in physics. Vector spaces, complex analysis, matrices, linear transformations, vector calculus, Fourier series and integrals, the Laplace transformation, and special functions.
3420. Electronics. 4 hours. (1–3;4–6) Analog and digital electronics, applications and diagnostic techniques. Selections from direct- and alternating-current circuits, and measurements; uses of diodes, transistors, etc., as switches; applications of Boolean algebra; memory and storage devices; counters and shift registers; computer structures and bussing; servo systems and operations amplifiers; digital and analog-digital instrumentation and interfacing with computers.
4110. Statistical and Thermal Physics. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Basic probability concepts; statistical description of systems of particles; statistical thermodynamics and thermodynamic laws; macroscopic and microscopic descriptions of systems; phase transformation.
4150. Experimental Physics I. 3 hours. (1;6) Laboratory experience via use of research-quality instruments. Modern experiments in solid state, atomic and molecular physics. Topics, which may vary, include nonlinear dynamics and chaos in circuits and lasers; SQUIDS and high temperature superconductivity; holography; X-ray diffraction; and electron scanning microscopy.
4160. Experimental Physics II. 3 hours. (1;6) Experimental techniques of precision measurements in nuclear and atomic physics. Topics, which may vary, cover recent developments in modern physics suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Rutherford scattering, low energy nuclear reactions; ion-induced innershell ionization at MeV energies; nuclear magnetic resonance to obtain local electronic structure; magnetic transport and magneto-optics; and modern techniques in surface analysis (ion sputtering).
4210. Electricity and Magnetism. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Vector treatment of static electric and magnetic fields in free space, multipole field distributions, boundary value problems, fields in material media, and electromagnetic waves.
4220. Electromagnetic Waves. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Maxwell’s equations; plane and spherical waves; reflection, refraction, guided waves, radiation and scattering.
4310. Quantum Mechanics. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Origins of the modern theory of atomic structure; Schroedinger’s formulation of non-relativistic, single-particle quantum mechanics and application to simple systems; the one-electron atom.
4350. Advanced Modern Physics I – Atomic and Molecular Physics. 3 hours. Introduction to various quantum mechanical models of atomic and molecular structure and spectra. Hydrogen atom and simple spectra; external fields, line splitting; line broadening; addition of angular momentum and spin; effective fields, variational method; Hartree and Hartree-Fock theory; structure and spectra of multielectron atoms; Rydberg atoms; molecular binding; rotational, vibrational and electronic states and spectra of diatomic molecules.
4360. Advanced Modern Physics II – Nuclear and Particle Physics. 3 hours. Comprehensive study of nuclear structure and dynamics; survey of particle physics; properties of the nuclear force; interpretation of experimental data via specific many-body models; interaction of radiation with matter; classification of particles and nuclei; scattering theory; conservation laws and symmetry; and contemporary results.
4420. Physical Optics. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Huygens’ principle and application to geometrical optics; interference phenomena; Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction; polarization; electromagnetic theory of light and interaction with matter. Part of the instruction will be in a laboratory setting.
4500. Introduction to Solid-State Physics. 3 hours. An introduction to the major areas of solid-state physics, including crystal structure and symmetry, lattice vibrations and phonons, thermal properties, energy bands, semiconductors, superconductivity, and magnetic properties.
4550. Modern Classical Dynamics. 3 hours. Introduction to nonlinear dynamical systems; onset of chaos, phase space portraits, universality of chaos, strange attractors, experimental verification, fluid dynamics and the KAM theorem.
4600. Computer Based Physics. 3 hours. Symbolic and numerical evaluations of single-variable and multi-variable integrals with a single line of programming. Symbolic evaluation of derivatives. Symbolic manipulation of lists including vectors and matrices. Data analysis. Multidimensional plots. Symbolic derivations. Symbolic and numerical solutions to single and multiple, linear and nonlinear, differential and partial differential equations. Probability densities and Monte Carlo methods. Random walk and classical trajectory simulations.
4610. Topics in Astronomy. 3 hours. (3;0;1) Selected topics in planetary and stellar astronomy: techniques of astronomical observation and measurement; evolution, composition and properties of our solar system and the universe; history of astronomy. Designed for students seeking secondary physical science/science teacher certification. The recitation hour for PHYS 4610 serves to cover teaching methods in astronomy, including the demonstration of measurement equipment (e.g., spectrometers, digital imaging, telescopes, etc.).
4630. Topics in Astronomy Laboratory. 1 hour. (0;3) Laboratory sequence for PHYS 4610. Designed for students seeking secondary physical science/science teacher certification. Emphasizes data acquisition (e.g., via astronomical observations), data analysis (e.g., of stellar spectra) for the selected topics covered in PHYS 4610, and includes an overview of how to set up the equipment for the laboratory exercises.
4700. Research Methods for Secondary Science Instruction. 3 hours. (2;4) Techniques used to solve and address scientific inquiry. Design of experiments. Use of statistics to interpret experimental results and measure sampling errors. Ethical treatment of human subjects. Laboratory safety. Mathematical modeling of scientific phenomena. Oral and written presentation of scientific work.
4710. Foundations of Theoretical Physics. 3 hours. Overview of topics in theoretical physics. Symmetry; mechanics: Newton’s laws, celestial mechanics, Hamiltonian formalism; electromagnetism: Maxwell’s equations, nonlinear optics and classical field theory, quantum optics, lasers, chaotic diffraction; quantum mechanics: measurements and scattering theory; statistical physics: entropy, equilibrium statistical mechanics; and contemporary areas: fractals, chaos and nonlinear dynamics. Topics may vary.
4900-4910. Special Problems. 1–3 hours each. Must have the consent of the faculty member prior to enrollment. May be repeated for credit.
4950. Senior Thesis. 3–6 hours. (0; 0; 9–18) Individual research on a problem chosen in consultation with a faculty member. Research may be conducted on campus, during an internship off-campus, or as an exchange student in a study abroad program.
4951. Honors College Capstone Thesis. 3 hours. Major research project prepared by the student under the supervision of a faculty member and presented in standard thesis format. An oral defense is required of each student for successful completion of the thesis.
4960-4970. Science Institute (Physics). 1–6 hours each. For students accepted by the university as participants in special institute programs. May be repeated for credit but not to exceed a total of 6 hours in each course.
Date of initial release: July 1, 2009 — Copyright © 2008 University of North Texas
Page updated:
March 22, 2010
— Comments or corrections: catalog@unt.edu
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