Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS PY 582: Quantum Lab
  Experiments in quantum optics and quantum physics, chemistry and engineering to (i) explore basic quantum effects various physical systems, including single photon, entangled photons, Spin systems, superconductivity superconductivity, Integer quantum Hall effect, laser interference, and (ii) experiment with color defects in diamond as qubits implementing the basic single-qubit operations such as initialization, applying quantum gates, and read-out.
• CAS PY 677: An Introduction to Evidence-Based Undergraduate STEM Teaching
  Online course with in-person faculty-led sessions. Participants learn about effective teaching strategies and the research that supports them, and apply approaches to lesson design and assignments for future teaching opportunities. Also offered as GRS BI 677 and GRS CH 677.
• CAS PY 681: Electronics for Scientists
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASMA124 & (CASPY212 OR CASPY252)) or consent of instructor. - A survey of practical electronics for all College of Arts and Sciences science students wishing to gain a working knowledge of electronic instrumentation, and in particular, its construction. Two four-hour laboratory-lecture sessions per week. Effective Spring 2020 this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Creativity/Innovation
  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Research and Information Literacy
• CAS PY 701: Advanced Mathematical Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY501) or equivalent. - Mathematical structures; algebraic systems, topological spaces, measure theory, and integration. Functional analysis: Banach and Hilbert spaces, linear functionals, operators, and spectral theory. Other applications at discretion of instructor.
• CAS PY 713: Quantum Field Theory 1
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY511 & CASPY512) - Provides an introduction to the techniques of quantum field theory with applications to high-energy and condensed-matter physics. Topics include field equations and quantization of many-body systems; Green function and linear response theory; S-matrix and scattering theory; path integration; perturbation expansions and the Feynman rules; renormalization and effective field theories; epsilon expansion and critical exponents.
• CAS PY 714: Quantum Field Theory 2
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSPY713 & GRSPY751) or equivalent. - A continuation of GRS PY 713 for particle physicists. Topics include relativistic fields; LSZ formalism; the Lorentz group; quantum electrodynamics; non-Abelian gauge symmetry; spontaneous symmetry breaking; Goldstone's theorem; the Higgs mechanism; the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam model.
• CAS PY 731: Theory of Relativity
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY521 & CASPY522 & CASPY531) or consent of instructor. - An introduction to general relativity: the principle of equivalence; Riemannian geometry; Einstein's field equation; the Schwarzschild solution; the Newtonian limit; experimental tests; black holes; cosmology.
• CAS PY 741: Solid-State Physics I
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY511 & CASPY512 & CASPY541 & CASPY543) or equivalent. - One electron band structure: Formalism: Hartree-Fock, density functional frameworks. Methods: Green function, pseudopotentials and tight binding. Linear response. Optical properties. Elastic properties. Phonons: lattice dynamics and phenomenological methods. Electronic instabilities and transitions. Topological aspects of band structure and topological phases.
• CAS PY 742: Solid-State Physics II
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSPY741) - Many-body formalism: second quantization, Green function, perturbation theory, Feynman diagrams. BEC and superfluidity. Fermi liquids; Luttinger liquids, bosonization. Electron-phonon interactions and superconductivity. Quantum magnetism: exchange mechanisms; magnetic insulators, spin-wave theory; itinerant magnetism, spin-density waves. Magnetic impurities, Anderson model, Kondo effect.
• CAS PY 743: Low-Temperature Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY512 & CASPY542) - Superconductivity, superfluidity, and properties of 3He and 4He at low temperatures. Techniques and measurement of physical quantities near absolute zero.
• CAS PY 744: Polymer Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY541 OR GRSCH653) and consent of instructor. - Introduction to polymer physics, focusing on the structure, phase behavior, and dynamics of isolated chains, polymer solutions, and gels. Development of underlying theoretical formalism and comparison with experimental results. Discussion of applications to novel polymeric materials.
• CAS PY 745: Experimental Surface Physics and Chemistry
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPY543) or consent of instructor. - Introduction to the principles and experimental techniques of surface and interface physics and chemistry. Electronic, structural, vibrational, and magnetic properties of solid surfaces and interfaces. Emphasis on how these properties are measured. Also vacuum technology and x-ray generation.
• CAS PY 747: Advanced Statistical Mechanics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY501 & CASPY512 & CASPY531 & CASPY542) - Introduction to classical and quantum chaos: Random Matrix Theory. Eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Doubly-stochastic evolution. Fluctuation theorems and other thermodynamic relations. Integrable systems, Many-body localization. Dynamics of Hamiltonian systems close to the adiabatic limit. Counter-adiabatic driving. Non-adiabatic response and quantum geometry.
• CAS PY 751: High-Energy Physics 1
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY511 & CASPY512) or consent of instructor. - Yearlong course (with GRS PY 752) on phenomenological aspects of modern high-energy physics. Principal topics are the standard model of strong and electro-weak interactions and the physics of electro-weak symmetry breaking. Intended for both theoretical and experimental students; emphasis on current calculational techniques.
• CAS PY 752: High-Energy Physics 2
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY511 & CASPY512) or consent of instructor. - Yearlong course (with GRS PY 751) on phenomenological aspects of modern high-energy physics. Principal topics are the standard model of strong and electro-weak interactions and the physics of electro-weak symmetry breaking. Intended for both theoretical and experimental students; emphasis on current calculational techniques.
• CAS PY 771: Systems Biology for Physical Scientists and Engineers
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASPY541 & CASPY571) or consent of instructor. - Focus is modern work on modeling biochemical networks. Core material includes signaling, genetic switches, biological oscillators and development. Begins with chemical kinetics in the context of molecular biology. Simple yet informative models based on physics approaches are emphasized.
• CAS PY 782: Advanced Materials Characterization
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPY543) or equivalent. - Introduction to the principles and applications of advanced materials characterization including study of atomic structure, electronic structure, defects, mechanical properties, transport properties, and carrier dynamics.
• CAS PY 789: Computational Quantum Many-Body Physics
  This course introduces computational techniques for lattice models of interacting fermions, bosons, and quantum spins. Methods include Lanczos diagonalization, matrix-product states, and quantum Monte Carlo methods. Applications are taken from condensed matter and quantum-device physics (e.g., quantum annealing).
• CAS PY 811: Advanced Quantum Field Theory
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSPY713) - Covers Scale Invariant Theories and Conformal Invariant Theories in various dimensions with applications to quantum criticality, statistical physics, and high-energy physics.
• CAS PY 841: Symmetry in Condensed Matter Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: (GRSPY741 & GRSPY742) or consent of instructor. - Theories of finite groups and their irreducible representations (Irreps), symmetry projection operators. Product groups and product representations. Crystalline symmetry, symmorphic and non-symmorphic space groups and induction of their Irreps. Spin-1/2 double groups, magnetic color groups. Time-reversal symmetry and co-representations.