Course Descriptions

Courses are listed alpha-numerically. The 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 series are undergraduate courses. The 5000 series are graduate courses that can also be taken by undergraduates with cumulative grade point averages of 2.75 or higher, who have satisfied all listed prerequisites and whose registration is approved by the department head or program chair responsible for the course. The 6000 series courses are restricted to graduate students only. Courses below 1000 are developmental in nature, are not counted in GPA calculations and do not count toward any Florida Tech degree.

Courses that may be taken in fulfillment of Undergraduate Core Requirements are designated as follows: CL: computer literacy requirement, COM: communication elective, HU: humanities elective, LA: liberal arts elective, Q: scholarly inquiry requirement, SS: social science elective, CC: cross-cultural, Hon: course may include honors sections during some semesters. These designations follow the course descriptions. Other courses that satisfy Undergraduate Core Requirements are identified by the course prefix: any MTH course can be used toward meeting the mathematics requirement; and any AVS, BIO, CHM or PHY course, or EDS 1031 or EDS 1032 , toward meeting the physical/life sciences requirement.

Course Filter
Filter this list of courses using course prefix, course code, keywords or any combination.
Prefix:	Code or Number:	Keyword or Phrase:
Choose Course Prefix	Choose Course Number	Choose Keyword
Find whole word or phrase only.


Physics
	PHY 0002 Final Program Examination Credit Hours: 0 Requires registration in order to sit for the final program examination.
	PHY 0003 Final Program Examination 2 Credit Hours: 0 Requires registration in order to sit for the final program examination. Prerequisite: PHY 0002 Corequisite: PHY 0002
	PHY 0004 Final Program Examination 3 Credit Hours: 0 Requires registration in order to sit for the final program examination. Prerequisite: PHY 0003 Corequisite: PHY 0003
	PHY 1000 Physics Review Credit Hours: 1 Provides a physics review for transfer students who have only completed a three-credit-hour equivalent class for PHY 1001 (four credit hours). Includes supplementary materials from PHY 1001. Requirement(s): For transfer students only
	PHY 1001 Physics 1 Credit Hours: 4 Includes vectors; mechanics of particles; Newton’s laws of motion; work, energy and power; impulse and momentum; conservation laws; mechanics of rigid bodies, rotation, equilibrium; fluids, heat and thermodynamics; and periodic motion. (Hon) Prerequisite: (MTH 1001 or MTH 1010 ), and (MTH 1002 or MTH 1020 ) Corequisite: MTH 1002 or MTH 1020
	PHY 1050 Physics and Space Science Seminar Credit Hours: 1 Introduces some of the major contemporary problems and research areas in physics and space sciences. Must be enrolled in physics or space sciences (7101, 7139, 7191, 7192, 7193)
	PHY 1999 Physical Concepts for Construction Credit Hours: 4 Presents the basic concepts of physics as an essential foundation for understanding technical ideas such as statics, structures, materials, and electrical and mechanical systems. Provides a basis in physical science required for field work in the construction industry. Prerequisite: MTH 1001 or MTH 1010
	PHY 2002 Physics 2 Credit Hours: 4 Includes electricity and magnetism, Coulomb’s law, electric fields, potential capacitance, resistance, DC circuits, magnetic fields, fields due to currents, induction, magnetic properties; and wave motion, vibration and sound, interference and diffraction. (Hon) Prerequisite: PHY 1001
	PHY 2003 Modern Physics Credit Hours: 3 Includes quantum mechanics of atoms, molecules, nuclei, solids and fundamental particles. Planck and de Broglie’s laws, the Bohr model of hydrogen, elementary examples of Schrodinger’s equation, relativity, elementary particles and symmetry, quantum electrodynamics and chromodynamics. Prerequisite: (MTH 2001 or MTH 2010 or MTH 2201 or MTH 3200 ) and PHY 2002
	PHY 2091 Physics Laboratory 1 Credit Hours: 1 Experiments to elucidate concepts and relationships presented in PHY 1001 , to develop understanding of the inductive approach and the significance of a physical measurement, and to provide some practice in experimental techniques and methods. Prerequisite: PHY 1001 Corequisite: PHY 1001 or PHY 1999
	PHY 2092 Physics Laboratory 2 Credit Hours: 1 Continues PHY 2091 . Includes experiments pertaining to PHY 2002 . Prerequisite: PHY 2091 and PHY 2002 Corequisite: PHY 2002
	PHY 3011 Physical Mechanics Credit Hours: 4 Fundamental principles of mechanics and applications in physics. Includes Newton’s Laws, equations of motion, types of forces, conservation laws, potential functions, Euler and Lagrange equations and Hamilton’s Principle. Prerequisite: (MTH 2001 or MTH 2010 ) and (MTH 2201 or MTH 3200 ) and PHY 2002
	PHY 3035 Quantum Mechanics Credit Hours: 4 Schrodinger equation, the uncertainty principle, one-dimensional potentials, harmonic oscillator, operator methods, tunneling, angular momentum and spin. Discusses three-dimensional problems, such as one-electron atom and N-particle systems. Introduces approximation techniques, including perturbation theory. Prerequisite: (MTH 2201 or MTH 3200 ) and PHY 2003
	PHY 3060 Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics Credit Hours: 4 Includes temperature, heat and heat engines, work, internal energy, entropy, laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamic potentials, equations of state, phase changes, viscosity, thermal conductivity, diffusion, Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics and partition functions. Prerequisite: PHY 2003
	PHY 3152 Electronic Measurement Techniques Credit Hours: 4 Includes modern electronic measurement and data collection methods, circuit analysis, integrated and digital circuits, noise reduction techniques, signal conditioning in experimental physics and computer interfacing. Includes a laboratory section considering the design, construction and testing of analog and digital circuits. Prerequisite: PHY 2002
	PHY 3440 Electromagnetic Theory Credit Hours: 3 Includes geometry of static electric and magnetic fields, electric charges and currents, calculating electric and magnetic fields from potentials, static electric and magnetic fields inside matter, Faraday’s Law of Induction and Maxwell’s Equations, and propagation and radiation of electromagnetic waves. Prerequisite: (MTH 2001 or MTH 2010 ) and PHY 2002
	PHY 3901 Research Experience in Physics Credit Hours: 1 Individual research directed by a faculty member. May not be used in place of any named courses in the major program. Requires the preparation and presentation of a report on the research. Minimum student level - sophomore Requirement(s): GPA of 3.0 or higher, and instructor and department head approval May be repeated for a maximum of four credits
	PHY 4020 Optics Credit Hours: 3 Applications to physics, space sciences and engineering. Includes geometrical optics (briefly), physical optics including Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction; interactions with dielectric materials; Fresnel equations; and applications including lasers, holography, polarization and nonlinear optics materials. Prerequisite: (MTH 2201 or MTH 3200 ) and PHY 2002
	PHY 4021 Experiments in Optics Credit Hours: 1 Experiments include basic optical systems, interference and diffraction. Studies interferometers, spectrometers, lasers and detectors. Enrollment limited to physics and space sciences majors, and on a space-available basis to electrical engineering majors with an emphasis in electrooptics. Corequisite: PHY 4020
	PHY 4030 Introduction to Subatomic Physics Credit Hours: 3 Introduces elementary particles, fundamental forces, nuclear structure and reactions. Includes classification and properties of particles (the Standard Model) and nuclei, particle interactions, nuclear models, nuclear decays, radiation and particle detection. Prerequisite: PHY 3035
	PHY 4033 Introduction to Solid State Physics Credit Hours: 3 Includes crystal structure, crystal diffraction and the reciprocal lattice, crystal binding; lattice vibrations, phonons, thermal properties of insulators; free electron Fermi gas, energy bands in metals; and Fermi surfaces. Prerequisite: PHY 3035 and PHY 3060
	PHY 4050 Advanced Research Techniques and Data Analysis Credit Hours: 3 Covers the skills and tools necessary to perform active research in physics, particularly in data-oriented astrophysics. Describes manipulation of data to extract physically meaningful quantities and their associated uncertainties. Includes the use of statistical inference, numerical calculations and visualization of quantitative information. Prerequisite: (CSE 1502 or CSE 1503 ), and (MTH 3210 or MTH 3220 ) and PHY 2003
	PHY 4071 Senior Laboratory Credit Hours: 2 Experiments in optics, and atomic nuclear and solid state physics. Must be enrolled in physics or space sciences (7101, 7139, 7191, 7192, 7193). Minimum student level - senior
	PHY 4200 Senior Seminar 1 Credit Hours: 1 Reports and discussions on selected topics in contemporary experimental and theoretical physics and space sciences. (Q) Requirement(s): Student must be within three semesters of graduation
	PHY 4201 Special Topics in Physics Credit Hours: 3 Topics announced before each course offering. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 4210 Senior Seminar 2 Credit Hours: 1 Reports and discussions on selected topics in contemporary experimental and theoretical physics and space sciences. (Q) Requirement(s): Student must be within three semesters of graduation Prerequisite: PHY 4200
	PHY 4301 Independent Studies Credit Hours: 1 - 3 Individual study of specific problems in physics. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 4901 Undergraduate Research Credit Hours: 3 Individual research directed by a faculty member. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 4902 Undergraduate Research Credit Hours: 3 Individual research directed by a faculty member. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 5015 Analytical Mechanics 1 Credit Hours: 3 A general treatment of dynamics of particles and rigid bodies, rotational dynamics, potential theory; Hamilton’s principle and principle of least action, Lagrange’s equations; and applications. Recommended: Background knowledge equivalent PHY 3011 Physical Mechanics
	PHY 5017 Electromagnetic Theory 1 Credit Hours: 3 Introduces electrostatics, boundary-value problems in electrostatics, multipoles, electrostatics and macroscopic media, dielectrics, magnetostatics, Faraday’s law, Maxwell equations, plane electromagnetic waves and wave propagation. Recommended: Background knowledge equivalent to PHY 3440 Electromagnetic Theory
	PHY 5018 Electromagnetic Theory 2 Credit Hours: 3 Continues PHY 5017 . Includes radiating systems, multipole fields and radiation, scattering and diffraction, special theory of relativity, dynamics of relativistic particles and electromagnetic fields, scattering of charged particles, Cherenkov radiation, radiation by moving charges, Bremsstrahlung and radiation damping. Prerequisite: PHY 5017
	PHY 5020 Optics Credit Hours: 3 Applications to physics, space sciences and engineering. Includes geometrical optics (briefly), physical optics, including Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction; interactions with dielectric materials; Fresnel equations; and applications including lasers, holography, polarization and nonlinear optics materials. Additional graduate-level projects will be assigned including computer ray tracing and computer lens design.
	PHY 5030 Quantum Mechanics 1 Credit Hours: 3 Schrodinger equation, discrete and continuous eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, collision theory, matrix mechanics, angular momentum perturbation and other approximation methods, identical particles and spin, semiclassical theory of radiation, atomic structure. Recommended: Background knowledge equivalent to PHY 3035 Quantum Mechanics Prerequisite: MTH 5201 Corequisite: MTH 5201
	PHY 5031 Quantum Mechanics 2 Credit Hours: 3 Schrodinger equation, discrete and continuous eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, collision theory, matrix mechanics, angular momentum perturbation and other approximation methods, identical particles and spin, semiclassical theory of radiation, atomic structure. Prerequisite: PHY 5030
	PHY 5045 Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics Credit Hours: 3 The fundamental laws and principles that govern the behavior and structure of matter on the subatomic scale. Definition and classification of elementary particles and fundamental forces; properties of elementary particles and their experimentally observable behavior; symmetries and invariance principles; Feynman diagrams; interaction of particles with bulk matter. Recommended: Background knowledge equivalent to PHY 3035 Quantum Mechanics and PHY 4030 Introduction to Subatomic Physics
	PHY 5070 Special Topics in Physics Credit Hours: 3 Topics announced before each course offering. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 5082 Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics Credit Hours: 3 Covers the principles and applications of statistical thermodynamics, thermal and general interactions of macroscopic systems and parameter measurement. Also includes basic methods and applications of statistical mechanics, equilibrium conditions, quantum statistics of ideal gases, and the kinetic theory of transport and irreversible processes. Recommended: Background knowledge equivalent to PHY 3060 Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics
	PHY 5088 Graduate Laboratory Credit Hours: 3 Experimental work under individual faculty supervision. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 5089 Graduate Laboratory Credit Hours: 3 Experimental work under individual faculty supervision. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 5095 Advanced Laboratory Credit Hours: 3 Experimental work at the research level in faculty research labs. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 5899 Final Semester Thesis Credit Hours: 0 - 2 Variable registration for thesis completion after satisfaction of minimum registration requirements. Requirement(s): Approval by Office of Graduate Programs and accepted petition to graduate
	PHY 5999 Thesis Credit Hours: 3 - 6 Individual work under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty on a selected topic in physics. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 6001 Individual Studies Credit Hours: 1 - 3 Individual studies under faculty supervision. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 6090 Research Credit Hours: 1 - 6 Research leading to the doctoral dissertation. Requirement(s): Department head approval
	PHY 6899 Final Semester Dissertation Credit Hours: 0 - 2 Variable registration for dissertation completion after satisfaction of minimum registration requirements. Requirement(s): Approval by Office of Graduate Programs and accepted candidacy
	PHY 6999 Dissertation Credit Hours: 3 - 12 Preparation of doctoral dissertation. Requirement(s): Department head approval and admission to doctoral candidacy

Contract All Courses | Print this page.

Print this Page

Course Descriptions

PHY 0002 Final Program Examination

PHY 0003 Final Program Examination 2

PHY 0004 Final Program Examination 3

PHY 1000 Physics Review

PHY 1001 Physics 1

PHY 1050 Physics and Space Science Seminar

PHY 1999 Physical Concepts for Construction

PHY 2002 Physics 2

PHY 2003 Modern Physics

PHY 2091 Physics Laboratory 1

PHY 2092 Physics Laboratory 2

PHY 3011 Physical Mechanics

PHY 3035 Quantum Mechanics

PHY 3060 Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory and Statistical Mechanics

PHY 3152 Electronic Measurement Techniques

PHY 3440 Electromagnetic Theory

PHY 3901 Research Experience in Physics

PHY 4020 Optics

PHY 4021 Experiments in Optics

PHY 4030 Introduction to Subatomic Physics

PHY 4033 Introduction to Solid State Physics

PHY 4050 Advanced Research Techniques and Data Analysis

PHY 4071 Senior Laboratory

PHY 4200 Senior Seminar 1

PHY 4201 Special Topics in Physics

PHY 4210 Senior Seminar 2

PHY 4301 Independent Studies

PHY 4901 Undergraduate Research

PHY 4902 Undergraduate Research

PHY 5015 Analytical Mechanics 1

PHY 5017 Electromagnetic Theory 1

PHY 5018 Electromagnetic Theory 2

PHY 5020 Optics

PHY 5030 Quantum Mechanics 1

PHY 5031 Quantum Mechanics 2

PHY 5045 Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics

PHY 5070 Special Topics in Physics

PHY 5082 Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics

PHY 5088 Graduate Laboratory

PHY 5089 Graduate Laboratory

PHY 5095 Advanced Laboratory

PHY 5899 Final Semester Thesis

PHY 5999 Thesis

PHY 6001 Individual Studies

PHY 6090 Research

PHY 6899 Final Semester Dissertation

PHY 6999 Dissertation