Physics Minor
Christian Iliadis, Chair
Jhon T. Cimmino, Academic Affairs Coordinator, Physics and Astronomy
Frank Tsui, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Lu-Chang Qin, Physics Advisor (students with last names beginning with A–F)
Dan Reichart, Physics Advisor (students with last names beginning with G–I, and Astrophysics and Astronomy majors and minors)
Jennifer Weinberg-Wolf, Physics Advisor (students with last names beginning with J–R)
Stefan Jeglinski, Physics Advisor (students with last names beginning with S-Z, and Quantitative Finance majors)
The goal of physics and astronomy is a unified description of the properties of matter and energy. The study of matter and energy encompasses a range of phenomena, from the subnuclear to the cosmological. Physics seeks to understand the way the universe “works,” from the very small scale (quarks and neutrinos) to the human scale (materials encountered in daily life) to the very large (the structure of the cosmos). Different approaches and technologies are used in these different regimes.
Department Programs
Majors
Minors
Graduate Programs
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:
- take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum of 12 hours of C or better in the minor (some minors require more)
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
The minor in physics consists of five courses:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| PHYS 118 | Introductory Calculus-based Mechanics and Relativity 1 | 4 |
| PHYS 119 | Introductory Calculus-based Electromagnetism and Quanta 2 | 4 |
| PHYS 281L | Experimental Techniques in Physics | 2 |
| PHYS 331 | Numerical Techniques for the Sciences I 3 | 4 |
| One additional course chosen from ASTR (numbered above 300) and PHYS (numbered above 200) | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 17 | |
| 1 | Prerequisite, MATH 231; pre- or corequisite, MATH 232; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisites. |
| 2 | Prerequisites, MATH 232 and PHYS 118; pre- or corequisite, MATH 233; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisites. |
| 3 | Prerequisite, one of PHYS 104, PHYS 114, PHYS 116, PHYS 118; pre- or co-requisite, MATH 383. |
Astronomy (ASTR) and Physics (PHYS) course descriptions.
See the program page here for special opportunities.
