Department of Physics and Astronomy

Physics is often seen as the most precise and deterministic of sciences. Determinism can break down, however. This seminar explores the rich and diverse areas of modern physics in which "unpredictability" is the norm. Honors version available.

Special topics course content will vary each semester.

Students will use UNC's global network of "Skynet" telescopes to observe planets, moons, and other solar-system objects, star-forming regions and clusters, supernova remnants, and galaxies. Through these observations and others, we will reach a better understanding of our place in the universe, and resolve common misconceptions. Topics include: seasons, the Galilean revolution, the cosmic distance ladder, the Great Debate of 1920, dark matter in our galaxy, Hubble's law, dark energy. Previously offered as ASTR 101L.

Learn how astronomers study and understand the cosmos. Topics include motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets; planetary surfaces, interiors, and atmospheres; telescopes and spectroscopy; prospects for detecting and visiting life elsewhere; how stars are born, age, and die; black holes, dark matter, and gravitational radiation; the Milky Way Galaxy and galaxies beyond; the birth and fate of the expanding Universe. Optional laboratory: ASTR 100L. Optional field experience: ASTR 111.

Celestial motions of the earth, sun, moon, and planets; nature of light; ground and space-based telescopes; comparative planetology; the earth and the moon; terrestrial and gas planets and their moons; dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets; planetary system formation; extrasolar planets; the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Honors version available.

The sun, stellar observables, star birth, evolution, and death, novae and supernovae, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, the Milky Way galaxy, normal galaxies, active galaxies and quasars, dark matter, dark energy, cosmology, early universe. Honors version available.

Humans have always wondered "are we alone?" From discovering life in extreme conditions on Earth, to finding thousands of exoplanets, we now know far more about this question than our ancestors. This class explores our recent understanding of planets, solar systems, where life might be, and how to find it. Optional laboratory: ASTR 100L. Optional field experience: ASTR 111.

This course is focused on medieval foundations of modern cosmology and is designed to take advantage of the opportunities available for enriched learning in England. The course is problem-based, e.g. How did people reckon calendars, time, and tides, both for navigation and daily life, before clocks and the printed word? Honors version available.

Students will use UNC's global network of Skynet telescopes to make color images of the moon, planets, star clusters, star-forming regions, star-death regions, and galaxies. They will also use Skynet's radio telescopes to explore the invisible universe, including pulsars, supernova remnants, and supermassive black holes. Astrophotography will be our entry point to deeper explorations of the solar system; star birth, evolution, and death; galaxy formation and evolution; and black holes and Einstein's theory of relativity.

One-week field experience at Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. Students observe the invisible universe using manually controlled and fully automated radio telescopes, and carry out a variety of observing projects. These target the sun, moon, Jupiter, star-forming regions, supernova remnants, pulsars, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, and more distant, active galaxies and quasars. Students receive training in radio astronomy, attend research and specialty talks, and tour the observatory. Formerly offered as ASTR 111L. Permission of the instructor.

This introductory astrophysics course will focus on the use of classical mechanics, gravitational physics, and the physics of radiation to interpret and explain astronomical observations. Course covers stellar structure, stellar formation and evolution, galaxies, and cosmology with an emphasis on quantitative problem solving.

This course will examine science as it emerged and developed in the West starting in the 13th century. We will use example problems from cosmology that are relevant today.

Stellar observables; galaxies; novae; cosmology; the early universe. This one-credit course can be taken with ASTR 102 for students who wish to major or minor in astrophysics.

Permission of the instructor. To be taken by honors candidates and other qualified juniors and seniors.

An introduction to the study of stellar structure and evolution. Topics covered include observational techniques, stellar structure and energy transport, nuclear energy sources, evolution off the main-sequence, and supernovae.

A capstone research experience introducing modern data-analysis techniques for large astronomical surveys. Students undertake guided research projects with a different theme each semester. The course focuses on real astrophysical discovery of new objects, events and phenomena.

Overview of the structure and evolution of galaxies, with emphasis on learning and applying modern research methods such as scientific literature review and computational astrostatistics. Includes galaxy morphology and dynamics, star formation, active galactic nuclei, galaxy interactions, large-scale clustering, environment-dependent physical processes, and the evolution of the galaxy population over cosmic time.

An introduction to modern cosmology: the study of the contents and evolution of the universe. Covers expanding spacetime, the thermal history of the early universe, including nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background, the inflationary model for the origins of cosmic structure, and the growth of that structure through time.

Surveys the physical processes governing the interstellar medium (ISM), which takes up the "refuse" of old stars while providing fuel for young stars forming. Covers the processes regulating the galactic gas budget and the corresponding observational diagnostics. Topics: radiative transfer, line formation mechanisms, continuum radiation, gas dynamics, star formation.

This course covers key topics in electromagnetism, radiative transport, and thermal and statistical mechanics in the context of astrophysics, such as stellar and planetary interiors and atmospheres, stellar evolution (including star formation and death), stellar populations, and the early universe.

This course provides a broad overview of astrophysical principles underlying stellar and planetary dynamics; N-body dynamics of star clusters, galaxies, and dark matter; fluid dynamics of astrophysical plasmas; and dynamics of the Universe and spacetime.

An introduction to modern techniques in observational astronomy with an emphasis on optical and near-infrared wavelengths. Topics covered include practical python for astronomy, telescopes and CCDs, spectroscopy, astrostatistics, and mining large astronomical surveys. Three lecture and three laboratory hours a week.

This course introduces first-year students to the basic motions of the solar system as viewed from the Earth along with the mechanical and mathematical models used to reproduce them, while exploring the history of medieval and early modern education, theology, and natural philosophy.

How sound is produced in instruments, and how those sounds are used in music making. Wave motion, resonance, sound perception, scales, harmony, and music theory. Collaborative laboratory exercises to investigate the acoustics of string, woodwind, and brass instruments as well as study of the physics of keyboard and percussion instruments. Students will make instruments from found objects and perform compositions on them, and can pursue their areas of special interest in a research paper.

This seminar provides a general introduction to nanoscience and nanotechnology, focusing on recent advances in molecular electronics, nanomaterials, and biomedical research. Course activities include group model-building projects, presentations, and discussions of reading material.

Students watch and analyze short movie clips that demonstrate interesting, unusual, or impossible physics. Group analysis emphasized.

Introduction to important skills and knowledge required in the STEM fields of today and tomorrow, from academic, employment, and social perspectives. All students, regardless of their educational goals, will achieve critical introductory skills in numerical reasoning and analysis, engineering design and prototyping, computer programming and electronics, and will demonstrate proficiency and knowledge about topics that increasingly impact society, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Quantum Computing.

Physics is often seen as the most precise and deterministic of sciences. Determinism can break down, however. This seminar explores the rich and diverse areas of modern physics in which "unpredictability" is the norm. Honors version available.

Special Topics course. Content will vary each semester.

Demystifying the working of objects such as CD players, microwave ovens, lasers, computers, roller coasters, rockets, light bulbs, automobiles, clocks, copy machines, X-ray and CAT-scan machines, and nuclear reactors.

This is an introductory physics course for non-science majors. This course focuses on basic physics concepts and connections to everyday life. Course topics include Newtonian mechanics, fluids, heat, vibrations, electricity and magnetism, light and sound, quantum phenomenon, nuclear radiation, relativity, and cosmology. Connections to everyday life and society include energy conservation, global warming, nuclear energy, the origin of the universe, pseudoscience, and the search for extraterrestrial life.

This course examines uncertainties in projecting future fossil fuel consumption and impact on global climate by quantifying how effectively alternative power-generation and energy-storage technologies can scale to meet needs in developing and developed nations, and by understanding past and present climates. Course previously offered as GEOL 108/MASC 108.

Basic principles of physics, including forces, energy, oscillations, sound, diffusion, and heat transfer, and applications to biological systems. Intended to meet the needs of, but not restricted to, students majoring in the life sciences. Students may not receive credit for PHYS 114 in addition to PHYS 104, 116, or 118.

Basic principles of physics, including fluids, electricity, magnetism, optics, quantum physics, and nuclear physics, and applications to biological systems. Intended to meet the needs of, but not restricted to, students majoring in the life sciences. Students may not receive credit for PHYS 115 in addition to PHYS 105, 117, or 119.

Mechanics of particles and rigid bodies. Newton's laws; mechanical and potential energy; mechanical conservation laws; frame-dependence of physical laws; Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Students may not receive credit for PHYS 118 in addition to PHYS 104, 114, or 116. Honors version available.

Unification of the laws of electricity and magnetism; electromagnetic waves; the particle-wave duality; fundamental principles and applications of quantum mechanics. Students may not receive credit for PHYS 119 in addition to PHYS 105, 115, or 117. Honors version available.

Special relativity theory, black body radiation, photons and electrons; wave particle duality. Elements of atomic theory, nuclei and fundamental particles. Three lecture hours a week.

Selected modern physics experiments. Written research reports and oral presentations. Three laboratory hours a week.

A quantitative exploration of the physical principles behind energy development and use within modern civilization, the stark impact of depleted fossil fuel reserves, and alternative sources.

Explore renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Three laboratory hours per week.

A one-semester course in statics, kinematics, simple harmonic motion, central forces, and applications from modern physics.

Electric fields and potentials, dielectrics, steady currents, magnetic flux and magnetic materials, electromagnetic induction. Emphasis on Maxwell's equations and their application to electromagnetic waves in bounded and unbounded media.

Physical Computing is an introduction to the interaction between a computing unit and the outside world, using measurement and control. The tools for this implementation of physical computing are microcontrollers, software, sensors, a variety of analog and digital electronic components, and algorithms that anticipate and respond in ways that humans perceive as NOT inherently computerized. Honors version available.

An introductory course centered around 8 lab experiments that include Compton scattering, interferometry, e/m, and photoelectric effect. Students use data analysis tools including MATLAB or Python, uncertainty analysis based on the GUM, and LaTeX for written reports. In this communication-intensive course, students collaborate like physicists through written and oral communication and peer review exercises aimed at general, peer, and expert audiences. They also engage with themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field.

Elective topics in the field of Physics. This course has variable content and may be taken multiple times for credit.

The sponsored, off-campus work must involve at least 140 hours. Does not fulfill any requirement in the physics major or minor. Physics majors only. Permission of instructor/department.

Students undertake independent research with a faculty mentor. Approved learning contract required. Mentored research courses (PHYS 295 or PHYS 395) may be used to satisfy degree requirements only for a maximum of 3 credit hours.

First semester of a two-semester sequence on electromagnetic theory and applications. This first semester is focused on electrostatic fields and potentials, magnetic fields and potentials, dielectrics, and magnetic fields in matter.

Applications of calculus, vector analysis, differential equations, complex numbers, and computer programming to realistic physical systems. Three lecture and two computational laboratory hours per week.

Modeling of celestial dynamics, nuclear physics problems, electrostatics; Monte Carlo integration in particle and theoretical physics; data modeling for physics and astronomy; gravitation, electromagnetism, fluid dynamics and quantum mechanics. Three lecture and two computational laboratory hours per week. Previously offered as PHYS 358.

An interdisciplinary course on the weirdness of quantum mechanics and the problem of interpreting it. Nonlocality, the measurement problem, superpositions, Bohm's theory, collapse theories, and the many-worlds interpretation.

Broad and quantitative study of renewable electric power systems: wind systems, photovoltaic cells, distributed generation (concentrating solar power, microhydro, biomass), and the economics of these technologies. Course previously offered as PHYS 581.

Elective topics in the field of Physics and Astronomy. This course has variable content and may be taken multiple times for credit.

To be taken by seniors with permission of the department.

Students undertake independent research with a faculty mentor. Approved learning contract required. A research proposal and/or summary research report is required. Although not mandatory, a submission of a research proposal to an internal or external competition for funding is encouraged. Students must also present their research at an appropriate symposium, conference, or seminar. Mentored research courses (295 or 395) may be used to satisfy degree requirements only for a maximum of 3 credit hours.

Particle kinematics, central forces, planetary motions. Systems of particles, conservation laws, nonlinearity. Statics, motion of rigid bodies. Lagrange's and Hamilton's equations. Euler's equations. Vibrations and waves.

How diffusion, entropy, electrostatics, and hydrophobicity generate order and force in biology. Topics include DNA manipulation, intracellular transport, cell division, molecular motors, single molecule biophysics techniques, nerve impulses, neuroscience.

Learning how to teach physics using current research-based methods. Includes extensive fieldwork in high school environments.

Electrodynamics: Maxwell's equations and their application to electromagnetic waves, radiation, and relativity.

Origins of quantum theory. Uncertainty principle. Schrödinger equation for simple systems including the hydrogen atom. Spin. Identical particles. Previously offered as PHYS 321.

Origin of the solar system: the nebular hypothesis. Evolution of the earth and its accretionary history. Earthquakes: plate tectonics and the interior of the earth. The earth's magnetic field. Mantle convection.

Equilibrium statistical mechanics; the laws of thermodynamics, internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, thermodynamic potentials, Maxwell's relations.

Recommended preparation, some knowledge of basic linear algebra. An introduction to quantum computing. Basic math and quantum mechanics necessary to understand the operation of quantum bits. Quantum gates, circuits, and algorithms, including Shor's algorithm for factoring and Grover's search algorithm. Entanglement and error correction. Quantum encryption, annealing, and simulation. Brief discussion of technologies.

DC and AC circuit analysis and design, construction, test, and measurements. Semiconductors physics and semiconductor devices (diodes and transistors). Signal conditioning and introduction to digital electronics and automated data acquisition and analysis. Previously offered as PHYS 351.

Introduction to digital circuits: gates, flip-flops, and counters. Computers and device interconnections, converters and data acquisition. Signal analysis and digital filters. Graphical (LabVIEW) programming and computer interfacing. Individual projects and practical applications. Course previously offered as PHYS 352.

This class will introduce how physics principles and techniques have been applied to medical imaging and radiation therapy. Topics will include ionizing radiation and radiation safety, x-ray and computed tomography, ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and radiation therapy. Topics such as the career path to become a medical physicist will also be discussed. The class will have lectures given by the instructor and guest lectures by experts and practitioners in this field.

Properties of crystal lattices, electrons in energy bands, behavior of majority and minority charge carriers, PN junctions related to the structure and function of semiconductor diodes, transistors, display devices.

A survey of materials processing and characterization used in fabricating microelectronic devices. Crystal growth, thin film deposition and etching, and microlithography. Previously offered as APPL 472. Permission of the instructor.

Selected physical problems to be addressed with the use of materials development, device fabrication and experiment design for evaluation.

Structure determination and measurement of the optical, electrical, and magnetic properties of solids. Previously offered as APPL 491L.

Continuation of PHYS 491L with emphasis on low- and high-temperature behavior, the physical and chemical behavior of lattice imperfections and amorphous materials, and the nature of radiation damage. Previously offered as APPL 492L.

A seminar on how students learn and understand physics and astronomy and how to teach using current research-based methods.

This course is designed to accompany, or subsequently follow, the Seminar for New Physics and Astronomy Teaching and Learning Assistants (PHYS 510) and is for undergraduates serving as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) for the Physics and Astronomy Department. UTAs who receive course credit cannot also be paid.

Broad coverage including ray, wave, Gaussian, and Fourier optics. Interference, diffraction, polarization, and coherence. Optical properties of materials, absorption, scattering. Fiber optics, lasers, semiconductors, imaging, and special topics. Previously offered as PHYS 415.

Emphasizes atomic physics but includes topics from nuclear, solid state, and particle physics, such as energy levels, the periodic system, selection rules, and fundamentals of spectroscopy.

This course will provide a broad coverage of important physics principles behind nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, especially the applications of quantum mechanics. Theoretical approaches and tools for grasping the design principles of various important NMR spectroscopic techniques will be discussed. It will show, for instance, how to use NMR spectroscopy to determine molecular structures and dynamics, and how to obtain images and functional information using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Structure of nucleons and nuclei, nuclear models, forces and interactions, nuclear reactions.

Relativistic kinematics, symmetries and conservation laws, elementary particles and bound states, gauge theories, quantum electrodynamics, chromodynamics, electroweak unification, standard model and beyond.

Crystal symmetry, types of crystalline solids; electron and mechanical waves in crystals, electrical and magnetic properties of solids, semiconductors; low temperature phenomena; imperfections in nearly perfect crystals. Previously offered as APPL 573.

This course offers an introduction to the most common biomedical imaging modalities, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed-Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), Ultrasound, and Optical Imaging. Lectures include discussions of imaging hardware, and relevant physics, as well as pre-clinical and clinical applications.

Interdisciplinary introduction to nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Fixed points, bifurcations, strange attractors, with applications to physics, biology, chemistry, finance.

Linear vector spaces and matrices, curvilinear coordinates, functions of complex variables, ordinary and partial differential equations, Fourier series, integral transforms, special functions, differential forms.

Required preparation, ability to program in a high-level computer language. Permission of the instructor for students lacking the required preparation. Methods required for the analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of physics measurements and theory. Error analysis, statistical tests, model fitting, parameter estimation, Monte Carlo methods, Bayesian inference, noise mitigation, experimental design, big data, selected numerical techniques including differential equations and Fourier techniques.

Required preparation, elementary Fortran, C, or Pascal programming. Structured programming in Fortran or Pascal; use of secondary storage and program packages; numerical methods for advanced problems, error propagation and computational efficiency; symbolic mathematics by computer.

The physical properties of fluids, kinematics, governing equations, viscous incompressible flow, vorticity dynamics, boundary layers, irrotational incompressible flow. Course previously offered as GEOL 560/MASC 560.

Six laboratory hours a week.

Six laboratory hours a week.

Permission of the instructor. Readings in physics and directed research for a senior honor thesis project. Required of all candidates for graduation with honors in physics.

Readings in physics and directed research for a senior honor thesis project. Required of all candidates for graduation with honors in physics.