Tim Sullivan

This laboratory course is a corequisite for all upperclass students enrolled in PHYS 240. The course is organized around experiments demonstrating various phenomena associated with the special theory of relativity and electric and magnetic fields. Lectures cover the theory and instrumentation required to understand each experiment. Laboratory work emphasizes computerized acquisition and analysis of data, the use of a wide variety of modern instrumentation and the analysis of experimental uncertainty. This course is required for the physics major. Prerequisite: PHYS 146 and concurrent enrollment in PHYS 240. Offered every fall.

The topics of oscillations and waves serve to unify many subfields of physics. This course begins with a discussion of damped and undamped, free and driven, and mechanical and electrical oscillations. Oscillations of coupled bodies and normal modes of oscillations are studied along with the techniques of Fourier analysis and synthesis. We then consider waves and wave equations in continuous and discontinuous media, both bounded and unbounded. The course may also treat properties of the special mathematical functions that are the solutions to wave equations in non-Cartesian coordinate systems. This course is required for the physics major. Prerequisite: PHYS 145, PHYS 240 and corequisite: MATH 212. Offered every spring.

Modern field theories may find their inspiration in the quest for understanding the most fundamental forces of the universe, but they find crucial tests and fruitful applications when used to describe the properties of the materials that make up our everyday world. In fact, these theories have made great strides in allowing scientists to create new materials with properties that have revolutionized technology and our daily lives. This course includes crystal structure as the fundamental building block of most solid materials; how crystal lattice periodicity creates electronic band structure; the electron-hole pair as the fundamental excitation of the "sea" of electrons; and Bose-Einstein condensation as a model for superfluidity and superconductivity. Additional topics are selected from the renormalization group theory of continuous phase transitions, the interaction of light with matter, magnetic materials and nanostructures. There will be a limited number of labs on topics such as crystal growth, X-ray diffraction as a probe of crystal structure, specific heat of metals at low temperature, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. This counts toward the theoretical elective for the major. Prerequisite: PHYS 360. Offered every other spring.

This course will serve as an introduction to electronics by helping students to become familiar with tools (oscilloscopes, digital multimeters (DMMs), data acquisition software and devices, breadboards, etc.) used in the design of and diagnosis of problems with electronic circuits, as well as the capabilities, characteristics, and uses of some of the more common electronic circuit elements (capacitors, resistors, diodes, transformers, regulators, etc.). Students will also learn to simulate circuit performance on a computer using a SPICE-based simulator. In addition, students will build and package a useful device.\n \nWhile no single course can teach students all the specific applications they will run into over the course of a career, this course will help students begin to answer their own questions as they come up, by reading device specification sheets and finding technical information when they need it. Students will also practice keeping a professional-standard record of their work.

In this course, students will explore circuit design and analysis for active and passive analog circuit elements, from the physics of the components (semiconductor diodes, transistors) to the behavior of multi-stage circuits. Experiments explore transistors, amplifiers, amplifier design and frequency sensitive feedback networks. \n \nWhile no single course can teach students all the specific applications they will run into over the course of a career, this course will help students begin to answer their own questions as they come up, by reading device specification sheets and finding technical information when they need it. Students will also practice keeping a professional-standard record of their work.

In this course, students will explore applications of integrated circuits (ICs), the fundamental building blocks of electronic devices such as personal computers, smart phones, and virtually every other electronic device in use today. Taking a two-pronged approach, the course will include experimentation with basic ICs such as logic gates as well as with multipurpose ICs such as microcontrollers that can be programmed to mimic the function of complex combinations of thousands of individual gates.\n \nWhile no single course can teach students all the specific applications they will run into over the course of a career, this course will help students begin to answer their own questions as they come up, by reading device specification sheets and finding technical information when they need it. Students will also practice keeping a professional-standard record of their work.\n