Physics

Name Title Credits School
PHYS 115 Humanity and the Physical Universe 3 College of Arts & Sciences
A survey course utilizing inquiry based strategies in the physical sciences for non-science students. This course examines a broad range of topics including: Newtonian mechanics, electricity, magnetism, sound, optics, heat, energy and power, earth science including weather and climate, modern physics and the solar system. The interactions between physical science and technology and their impact up on society and the quality of life will be considered.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 130 Introductory Physics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course covers the basic principles of mechanics and heat.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: MATH 135 or MATH 161 or MATH 170.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-2-3

PHYS 136 Physics for the Modern Architect 4 College of Arts & Sciences
The course will cover basic physical principles relating to current architectural practice. A broad spectrum of topics will be covered, primarily in classical physics to include: Units, Vectors, Motion, Statics, Work, Energy, Heat, Electricity, Sound and Light. The emphasis will be conceptual and required mathematical skills will be college algebra and trigonometry.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: MATH 141.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 140 Physics for Life Sciences I 3 College of Arts & Sciences
A basic course designed to meet the needs of health professions majors. Topics covered include vectors, laws of motion, work, energy, momentum, heat and wave motion. Illustrations from the field of life sciences will be stressed.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: MATH 141 or MATH 161 or MATH 170. Co-requisite: PHYS 141.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-3

PHYS 141 Physics I Laboratory 1 College of Arts & Sciences
Laboratory course illustrating principles taught in the introductory physics for life sciences course, PHYS 140.

Prerequisite Course(s): Co-requisite: PHYS 140

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 0-2-1

PHYS 150 Introductory Physics II 3 College of Arts & Sciences
For Bachelor of Technology majors. A continuation of PHYS 130, Introductory Physics. Topics covered include electricity, magnetism, optics and modern physics.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 130

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-2-3

PHYS 160 Physics for Life Sciences II 3 College of Arts & Sciences
A continuation of PHYS 140. Topics are selected from the fields of thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism, optics, atomic and nuclear physics. Applications for the field of life sciences will be emphasized.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 140 and PHYS 141. Co-requisite: PHYS 161.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-3

PHYS 161 Physics II Laboratory 1 College of Arts & Sciences
Laboratory course in physics supplementing the physics for life sciences course, PHYS 160.

Prerequisite Course(s): Co-requisite: PHYS 160

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 0-2-1

PHYS 170 General Physics I 4 College of Arts & Sciences
A basic course covering vectors, Newton's laws of motion, particle kinematics and dynamics, work, energy, momentum, and rotational motion.

Prerequisite Course(s): Co-requisite: MATH 170

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-2-4

PHYS 175 General Physics for Pre-Med I 5 College of Arts & Sciences
A basic course in physics for the student in the Combined Baccalaureate/Osteopathic Physician Program. Covers vectors, forces and torques, dynamics, energy momentum, fluids, gasses, liquids, solids, heat and thermodynamics.

Prerequisite Course(s): Co-requisite: MATH 170

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 5-2-5

PHYS 180 General Physics II 4 College of Arts & Sciences
A continuation of PHYS 170. Topics include fluids, wave motion, electric fields and electric potential, DC circuits, magnetic fields, capacitance and inductance, AC circuits, and electromagnetic waves.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 170. Co-requisite: MATH 180. Students in BS Electrical and Computer Engineering and BS Mechanical Engineering must earn a grade of C or better in PHYS 170.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-2-4

PHYS 185 General Physics for Pre-Med II 5 College of Arts & Sciences
A continuation of PHYS 175. Includes waves, sound, light, optics, electricity, current, magnetism, instrumentation, atoms and nuclei.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 175

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 5-2-5

PHYS 190 Architectural Acoustics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
The course introduces basic physical properties of sound propagation in the air and in different materials. It will apply the studies of acoustic waves to the quality of sound inside a space, which will include the clarity, reverberation, spatial impression, acoustic warmth, and noise control. The highlight of the course is the translation of these acoustic qualities to the design of a space ranging from a small living room or a lecture hall to a large concert hall.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 191 Physics of Sports 3 College of Arts & Sciences
The course provides an opportunity for students to elevate their understanding of the science of sports through an interdisciplinary approach. All aspects of the physical science of sports will be discussed. Students will have an opportunity to research the physical sciences for a wide range of sports from track and field to baseball, basketball, tennis, and soccer. These components of the course enable students to apply the sciences to a particular sport in depth. Better understanding of the physics principles of sports will ultimately improve students' skills in these games.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 200 Scientific Presentation Skills 1 College of Arts & Sciences
In this course, students will develop their scientific presentation skills. They will learn principles and best practices for clear, engaging science talks, and will put these into practice by giving presentations about scientific topics, including scientific work they have participated in. They will also workshop their own and other students' talks in a close-knit, collaborative atmosphere. The coursework will culminate in a presentation at SOURCE, open to the whole New York Tech community. Research experience in a technical or scientific field is a prerequisite for the course and will need to be confirmed by the student's research mentor. (Instructor permission required.)

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: FCSP 105 or SPCH 105, scientific research experience to be confirmed by student's research mentor

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1-0-1

Inst Cnst

PHYS 225 Introduction to Modern Physics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course is designed to familiarize students with the following topics: thermodynamics, optics, relativity, atomic and nuclear physics, fundamental quantum theory of photons, and semiconductors.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 180

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 226 Introduction to Modern Physics Laboratory 1 College of Arts & Sciences
This course introduces students to some of the most important experiments in physics, which signify the transition from classical to modern physics. The experiments include but are not limited to studies of the photoelectric effect, the Millikan oil drop, and wave-particle duality for light and electrons.

Prerequisite Course(s): Corequisites: PHYS 225

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 0-2-1

PHYS 310 Optics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
An intermediate course in geometrical and physical optics covering wave motion, interference, diffraction, polarization, spectrometry, and laser optics.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 170 Corequisites: PHYS 180

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 320 Quantum Mechanics I 4 College of Arts & Sciences
This course motivates from an historical perspective the development of quantum mechanics. We begin by examining early 20th-century experiments that the Newtonian framework could not explain, and then develop a language and a set of rules – or principles – with which one may understand all such experiments to date. Topics include the wavelike property of Nature, the quantization of Nature, the calculation of probabilities, the significance of measurement, wave-versus-particle models, and quantum uncertainty. Illustrative thought experiments will be examined, including Schroedinger’s possibly-unfortunate cat.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 180, MATH 310

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 331 Advanced Physics Laboratory I 3 College of Arts & Sciences
Advanced Physics Laboratory I is the first semester of a two-semester sequence that requires students to conduct, analyze, document, and present four experiments per semester. Students will work in pairs and select their experiments from a myriad of choices ranging from Compton scattering and the Zeeman effect to Brownian motion.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 180, MATH 260

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1-4-3

PHYS 332 Advanced Physics Laboratory II 3 College of Arts & Sciences
Advanced Physics Laboratory II is the second semester of a two-semester sequence that requires students to conduct, analyze, document, and present four experiments per semester. Students will work in pairs and select their experiments from a myriad of experiments.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 331

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 1-4-3

PHYS 341 Analytical Mechanics 4 College of Arts & Sciences
In this intermediate course in classical mechanics, topics include Newton’s equations, conservation laws, central force motions, damped and forced oscillations, non-inertial coordinate systems, rigid body motions, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 180

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 350 Plasma Physics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course introduces students to the physics of plasmas. Topics include single particle motion, plasma parameters, fluid theory, kinetic theory, and plasma waves.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 360 Introduction to Astrophysics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course will examine a broad range of areas in astrophysics, beginning with an historical perspective and leading to current frontiers in research. We will learn the experimental and observational bases for our current physical models of light and matter. Topics will include the evolution of structure on all scales, from subatomic particles to the life cycles of stars to the Universe as a whole. We will learn to make calculations regarding these processes via the physical quantities of energy, temperature, density, and consideration of conservation laws.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 180, MATH 310

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 366 Biophysics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course will demonstrate how a myriad of biological processes are governed by physical laws. Beginning with a molecular perspective, transitioning to a cellular and ultimately a network level, the student will learn how mechanics, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and polymer dynamics govern emergent properties of biological soft matter.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 180

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 371 Electricity and Magnetism I 4 College of Arts & Sciences
Students will learn the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism making use of the tools of vector calculus and differential equations. Topics will include electrostatics, magnetostatics, elements of electrodynamics (Ohm’s Law and electromagnetic induction), and Maxwell’s equations.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 180, MATH 260

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 390 Statistical Mechanics 4 College of Arts & Sciences
Students will study systems containing many particles, using thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Topics will include thermodynamics of ideal gases, thermal equilibrium, microscopic and macroscopic definitions of entropy, phase transitions, blackbody radiation, and Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 320

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 420 Quantum Mechanics II 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course builds upon the foundation laid in Quantum Mechanics I, continuing to develop the theoretical framework. In parallel, students examine applications of this framework, specifically to various phenomena that classical theory cannot explain, including superconductivity.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 320

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 430 Electricity and Magnetism II 3 College of Arts & Sciences
In this second course on Electricity and Magnetism, students apply the fundamentals learned in Electricity and Magnetism I and deepen their understanding of electric and magnetic fields using the potential formalism and the special theory of relativity. Applications will include the propagation of electromagnetic waves in vacuum and in media, waveguides, and radiation by accelerating charges.

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 440 Quantum Optics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course introduces students to the quantum theory of light-matter interactions. Topics include qubits (two-level systems), the interaction of classical electromagnetic fields with qubits, quantized electromagnetic fields, and the interaction of quantized fields with qubits.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisite: PHYS 420

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 451 Mathematical Methods in Physics 4 College of Arts & Sciences
The course introduces some aspects of mathematical methods for solving physics problems. Differential equations such as the wave equation, diffusion equation, heat equation, and Schrodinger equation will be discussed and applied in various settings. The course also extends to numerical solutions for real-world problems using computing languages such as Mathematica.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: MATH 260, PHYS 225

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 4-0-4

PHYS 460 Introduction to General Relativity 3 College of Arts & Sciences
This course introduces students to General Relativity, one of the greatest triumphs of contemporary physics. It is central to our understanding of myriad astrophysical phenomena, from stars and blackholes to galaxies to the origins of our universe. In this course, students will explore the physical and mathematical basis of General Relativity and will learn to describe and predict the observational consequences of this radical idea. Topics will include tensor calculus, curved spacetime metrics, the Einstein Equation, gravitational waves, blackholes, and elements of cosmology.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 341, MATH 320, MATH 350

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 470 Introduction to Solid State Physics 3 College of Arts & Sciences
The course introduces basic physical properties of solid state materials. Quantum mechanics will be used in the discussion of electronic states in solids. The course also focuses on special physical properties of semiconductors and their applications in electronic devices.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 320

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 480 Quantum Computing and Information Theory 3 College of Arts & Sciences
A course on quantum computation and information theory. Topics will include quantum circuits, algorithms, Fourier transforms, error-correction, entropy, and information theory.

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 320

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 3-0-3

PHYS 490 Special Topics in Physics 2 College of Arts & Sciences
This course will focus on analytical reading of classical review papers in various fields of physics, including quantum physics and quantum technology, plasma physics, mathematical physics, astrophysics, and biophysics. Students will learn how to synthesize the important information contained in research papers and to analyze and critique scientific methodology. Every student will work with individual faculty for a semester. The specific topic, either on original research or on reviewing classical papers, and the schedule of the meetings will be determined by the supervisor. The course will also develop presentation skills and the ability to generate innovative research methods. At the end of the semester, every student is required to present their work in a joint meeting, judged by all physics faculty members. [Note: Physics majors are required to enroll in this course twice]

Prerequisite Course(s): Prerequisites: PHYS 320

Classroom Hours - Laboratory and/or Studio Hours – Course Credits: 2-0-2