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 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.
• CAS PY 895: Seminar: Special Topics in Theoretical Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Theoretical research topics include general relativity, quantum field theory, high energy and particle physics, phase transitions, renormalization group, laser physics, kinetic equations, biophysics, computational physics, and selected topics in mathematical physics.
• CAS PY 896: Seminar: Special Topics in Theoretical Physics
  Graduate Prerequisites: consent of instructor. - Theoretical research topics include general relativity, quantum field theory, high energy and particle physics, phase transitions, renormalization group, laser physics, kinetic equations, biophysics, computational physics, and selected topics in mathematical physics.
• CAS PY 897: Seminar: Special Topics in Experimental Physics
  Surface physics; intermediate energy nuclear physics experiments; low temperature techniques; liquid and solid helium; and magnetism at low temperatures. Raman effect, gels, and biophysics. High-energy physics experimental techniques.
• CAS PY 898: Seminar: Special Topics in Experimental Physics
  Surface physics; intermediate energy nuclear physics experiments; low temperature techniques, liquid and solid helium, and magnetism at low temperatures. Raman effect, gels, and biophysics. High-energy physics experimental techniques.
• CAS PY 901: Research in Physics 1
  RES IN PHYS 1
• CAS PY 902: Research in Physics
  RES IN PHYS 2
• CAS PY 909: Directed Study in Physics
  DS IN PHYSICS 1
• CAS PY 910: Directed Study in Physics
  DS IN PHYSICS 2
• CAS PY 961: Scholarly Methods in Physics 1
  Graduate Prerequisites: graduate standing. - Introduction to scholarly methods in physics teaching and research: effective STEM instructional techniques; successful oral and written presentations; reading and reporting scientific literature; ethical obligations in physics teaching and research; career paths in physics. Required of first-semester doctoral students.
• CAS PY 980: Physics Graduate Independent Study
  Physics Grad Independent Study and Research course
• CAS RN 601: Varieties of Early Christianity
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: At least one prior course in biblical or New Testament literature reco mmended. - Surveys the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that arose and flourished in the second to the seventh century. Topics covered include martyrs, apocalypticism, Hell, Gnostics, prophecy, magical texts, angels and demons, and the various meanings of Christ. Effective Fall 2022, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking.
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  • Critical Thinking
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Social Inquiry I
• CAS RN 612: Buddhism in America
  The transplantation and transformation of Buddhism in the United States. Time period ranges from the 18th century to the present, but the emphasis is on contemporary developments, including the new Asian immigration, Jewish Buddhism, feminization, and engaged Buddhism. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Research and Information Literacy.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
  • Historical Consciousness
  • Research and Information Literacy