Applicants for the Ph.D. program are expected to have a Bachelor's
or Master's degree in Physics or a related area. If a student
enters the program with a Bachelor's degree, he or she must complete
all of the requirements stated previously for the M.A. degree;
if the student enters with an M.A. degree, ordinarily credit will be
given for some of the courses taken elsewhere.
Applicants must submit scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) aptitude tests and from the GRE physics subject test. Two letters of recommendation are also required. Students may be admitted either
into the Master's program or directly into the Ph.D. program.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PH.D. DEGREE
Three years of advanced study, including one year as a full-time
day-time student, is a minimum requirement of the degree. There
is no fixed number of courses for the degree; programs are arranged by students in
consultation with an adviser and are subject to the approval of the Graduate Program Committee.
The required program of course work consists
of the following:
Mathematical Physics (Phys. 401-402); Electromagnetic Theory (Phys. 421-422);
Analytical Mechanics (Phys. 411); Quantum Mechanics (Phys. 431-432); Statistical Mechanics (Phys. 501);
Solid State Physics (Phys. 511); Advanced Quantum Mechanics (Phys. 531);
Elementary Particle Physics (Phys. 537); and either Problems in Experimental Physics (Phys. 950) or
Problems in Theoretical Physics (Phys. 951). The lecture courses
are scheduled for three hours per week.
The committee may prescribe specific coursework in other areas of physics
or related subjects, depending on its assessment of the student's
background and objectives. There are no formal language requirements for students
whose native language is English.
Students must teach for at least one semester.
For admission to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
the student must pass a written and oral qualifying examination in
physics. Students must have departmental approval before taking
this examination.
A thesis topic is selected in consultation with a faculty member
who will serve as the thesis supervisor. The completed thesis
must be submitted to the department before the final oral examination
is given; the oral examination covers primarily the subject of thesis and
related fields.
