UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Catalog description

Student-faculty collaboration on research projects of mutual interest. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. (Variable credit) PHYS 415 SPECIAL TOPICS This course shall be offered when there is a conjunction of demand for, and the availability of expert instruction in, a specialized area of physics. Prerequisite: Contingent on subject matter, permission of the instructor. (1-4 credits) PHYS 416 SPECIAL TOPICS This course shall be offered when there is a conjunction of demand for, and the availability of expert instruction in, a specialized area of physics. Prerequisite: Contingent on subject matter, permission of the instructor. (1-4 credits) PHYS 420 STATISTICAL MECHANICS Statistical Mechanics is the field that studies how observable phenomena from chemistry can be explained through physics. This one-semester course summarizes the basis of chemistry from the ground up, beginning with a study of atoms and molecules and applying this knowledge of the microscopic level to understand matter at the macroscopic level. Topics include the discrete nature of light, quantum mechanics, NMRs, the equipartition t heorem, entropy, the laws of thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy, phase changes, and the partition function. This course is cross-listed with CHEM 420. Prerequisite: PHYS 222.