| |  | | Physics | Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information—Physics Program, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 145 Tate Laboratory of Physics, 116 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-624-6366; fax 612-624-4578; grad@physics.umn.edu; www.physics.umn.edu).
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the General Information section of this catalog for Graduate School requirements that apply to all major fields.
Curriculum—Physics is the study of the fundamental structure and interactions of matter. Research areas in the program include experimental and theoretical studies in astrophysics and cosmology, biological physics, condensed matter physics, elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, space and planetary physics, and physics education research. Interdisciplinary study is also available with the programs in astrophysics, biological sciences, chemistry, chemical engineering and materials science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and the history of science and technology.
Prerequisites for Admission—To be a physics major, an undergraduate major in physics or a strong undergraduate minor in physics is required.
Special Application Requirements—Teaching assistantships and a few fellowships are available on application to the School of Physics and Astronomy; three letters of recommendation from persons familiar with their scholarship and research potential, a complete set of transcripts, and a clearly written statement
of career interests, goals, and objectives are required. Submission of GRE scores
is strongly recommended. Fall semester entry is strongly recommended for all
students. Application by December 15 is strongly encouraged to ensure priority
consideration for fellowships and teaching and research assistantships awarded
for the next academic year.
Key to test abbreviations (GRE, TOEFL, GMAT, MELAB).
 For an online application or for more information about Graduate School admissions, see the General Information section in this catalog, or visit the Graduate School Web site.
Required
Orientation—During the two weeks before the beginning of fall semester, new graduate students are expected to participate in the department orientation program. This includes TA training sessions, which is required if a student's financial support comes from TA assignments.
Requirement for International Students—International students who want to teach as a TA must take a workshop on American teaching culture and language skills prior to the department orientation described above and also pass an English test, which is given in August. If students do not pass, they must take a training course until they pass the test. The course is given in August and during the academic year.
Use of 4xxx Courses—Use of 4xxx physics courses is permitted for either major or minor degree requirements with prior permission of the director of graduate studies. |
M.S. Degree Requirements | | The M.S. requires a minimum of 20 course credits (Plan A) or 30 course credits (Plan B), including classical physics (PHYS 5011-5012) or quantum mechanics (PHYS 5001-5002) and a minimum of 6 credits in a minor or related field; Plan A also requires 10 thesis credits. The minor requirement may be satisfied by completion of courses in one or two areas outside the specialization with an approval of the director of graduate studies of the minor field. Any course may be used to satisfy the related field requirement.
Language Requirements—There is no language requirement. However, in some instances the thesis adviser may require a reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages if justified by the nature of the topic.
Final Exam—The final exam is oral.
Minor Requirements for Students Majoring in Other Fields—A physics minor requires a background in differential and integral calculus and one year of calculus-level college physics. For the master's minor, students must complete a minimum of 6 credits in physics. | Ph.D. Degree Requirements | The Ph.D. requires a minimum of 40 credits, including classical physics (PHYS 5011-5012), quantum mechanics (PHYS 5001-5002), and two semesters of a seminar in the student's research area. The minor requirement may be satisfied by completion of courses in one or two areas outside the specialization with an approval of the director of graduate studies of the minor field. Any course will satisfy the supporting program requirement.
Language Requirements—There is no language requirement. However, in some instances the thesis adviser may require a reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages if justified by the nature of the topic.
Minor Requirements for Students Majoring in Other Fields—A physics minor requires a background in differential and integral calculus and one year of calculus-level college physics. For the doctoral minor, students must complete a minimum of 12 credits in physics, including either the classical physics sequence (PHYS 5011-5012) or the quantum mechanics sequence (PHYS 5001-5002). |
Faculty | | For latest graduate faculty listings, see <www.grad.umn.edu/faculty_rosters/faculty.html>. Key to membership categories (abbreviations after faculty names).
Professor
Benjamin F. Bayman (emeritus), ASM
John H. Broadhurst, SM
Charles E. Campbell, SM
Cynthia A. Cattell, SM
Hans W. Courant (emeritus), ASM
Priscilla B. Cushman, SM
E. Dan Dahlberg, SM
Kris Davidson, Astronomy, SM
Jiali Gao, Chemistry, SM
Robert D. Gehrz, Astronomy, SM
Clayton F. Giese (emeritus), ASM
Leonid Glazman, SM
Allen M. Goldman, SM
Anand Gopinath, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ASM
Alexander Grosberg, SM
J. Woods Halley, SM
Kenneth Heller, SM
Cheng-Cher Huang, SM
Roberta Humphreys, Astronomy, ASM
Thomas W. Jones, Astronomy, SM
James Kakalios, SM
Joseph I. Kapusta, SM
Paul Kellogg, (emeritus) ASM
Uwe R. Kortshagen, Mechanical Engineering, ASM
Yuichi Kubota, SM
Robert L. Lysak, SM
Marvin Marshak, SM
Keith A. Olive, SM
Robert O. Pepin, SM
Earl A. Peterson (emeritus), ASM
Ronald A. Poling, SM
Serge Rudaz, SM
Keith Ruddick, SM
Roger W. Rusack, SM
Mikhail Shifman, SM
Boris Shklovskii, SM
Evan Skillman, Astronomy, SM
Roger H. Stuewer (emeritus), AM
David Thomas, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, ASM
Arkady Vainshtein, SM
Oriol T. Valls, SM
Randall H. Victora, Electrical and Computer Engineering, ASM
Mikhail Voloshin, SM
Thomas F. Walsh, SM
John R. Wygant, SM
William Zimmermann, Jr. (emeritus), ASM
Associate Professor
Paul A. Crowell, SM
Eric Ganz, SM
Tony Gherghetta, SM
Alex Habig, ASM
Shaul Hanany, SM
Alex Kamenev, SM
Chris Leighton, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, ASM
David Morse, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, ASM
Joachim Mueller, SM
Marco Peloso, SM
Yong-Zhong Qian, SM
Liliya L. Williams, Astronomy, SM
Assistant Professor
Dan Cronin-Hennessy, SM
Michael A. DuVernois, SM
Jeremiah Mans, SM
Vincent Noireaux, SM
Michael Zudov, SM | | | | | |
