Home

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.

View courses in

  • CAS PY 581: Advanced Laboratory
    Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASPY351) First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Classical experiments in atomic and nuclear physics, development of new experiments, basic research projects. Experiments include magnetic resonance, nuclear-decay studies, Zeeman effect, holography, black-body radiation, X-ray diffraction, Mossbauer studies, and flux quantization, positron annihilation. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Research and Information Literacy.
    • Oral and/or Signed Communication
    • Research and Information Literacy
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • 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.
    • Creativity/Innovation
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.
    • 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.
    • Digital/Multimedia Expression
    • Historical Consciousness
    • Research and Information Literacy
  • CAS RN 622: History of Judaism
    This class surveys Jewish history from the classical period to modern times. It covers: the destruction of the 1st Temple; the encounter with Hellenism; the Roman period; the destruction of the 2nd Temple; the rise and influence of rabbinic Judaism; the medieval era under Muslim and Christian rule; medieval antisemitism; Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and philosophy (Maimonides). For the modern era we will discuss: the Renaissance; the Reformation; the complex issue of Emancipation; coming to America; the growth of American Judaism; religious reform; modern antisemitism; and Zionism. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS RN 628: Modern Judaism
    Encounters between Judaism and modernity from the Renaissance and Reformation; the Spanish expulsion and creation of Jewish centers in the New World; emancipation and its consequences; assimilation, Reform Judaism, Zionism, the American Jewish community, non-European communities, Jewish global migration, and modern antisemitism. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking.
    • Critical Thinking
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Historical Consciousness
  • CAS RN 638: Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives
    A thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on the dynamics of religious experience. Readings will be drawn from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings.
    • Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
    • Philosophical Inquiry and Life's Meanings
    • Writing-Intensive Course
  • CAS RN 651: Health and Medicine in Asian Religions
    Investigates how religious and moral narratives in Asian religions have informed understandings of the body in premodern and modern times. Topics include understanding illness, sexuality, and the body with particular attention to East Asia. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.

Related Bulletin Pages

Beyond the Bulletin