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Programs of Study, 1997-1999
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
PHYSICS
Head of the Department: D.K. Campbell
Correspondence and Information: Graduate Advising Office, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 227 Loomis Laboratory of Physics, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801-3080; (217) 333-3645
GRADUATE FACULTY
Professors: G. A. Baym, D. K. Campbell, D. M. Ceperley, S. J. Chang, Y. C. Chang, T. C. Chiang, P. T. Debevec, B. I. Eisenstein, S. M. Errede, C. P. Flynn, E. H. Fradkin, J. M. Gibson, D. M. Ginsberg, G. E. Gladding, N. D. Goldenfeld, G. D. Gollin, E. Gratton, L. H. Greene, L. E. Holloway, R. J. Holt, E. A. Jackson, M. V. Klein, J. B. Kogut, M. J. Kushner, F. K. Lamb, A. J. Leggett, R. M. Martin, J. M. Mochel, T. Ch. Mouschovias, A. M. Nathan, M. H. Nayfeh, Y. Oono, V. R. Pandharipande, I. K. Robinson, M. B. Salamon, K. J. Schulten, S. L. Shapiro, C. P. Slichter, L. L. Smarr, J. D. Stack, J. D. Sullivan, J. J. Thaler, D. J. Van Harlingen, J. W. Truran, J. K. Wambach, W. D. Watson, M. B. Weissman, J. E. Wiss, J. P. Wolfe
Associate Professors: D. H. Beck, S. L. Cooper, R. W. Giannetta, P. M. Goldbart, D. W. Hertzog, A.W. Hübler, S. A. Lamb, T. M. Liss, G. U. Nienhaus, P. W. Phillips, M. Stone
Assistant Professors: A. X. El-Khadra, R. G. Leigh, N. C. R. Makins, M. A. Selen, A. V. Sokol, S. S. Willenbrock
GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
The Department of Physics offers graduate work leading to the master of science and the doctor of philosophy degrees. There is opportunity for experimental or theoretical specialization in nuclear physics; elementary particle physics; nuclear magnetic and electron spin resonance; astrophysics; the physics of solids, including research on ionic crystals, metals, semiconductors, superconductors, surface physics, and the properties of liquid helium; biomolecular and biological physics; laser spectroscopy of atoms; and nonlinear dynamics and complex systems. Graduate study in several areas of applied physics is available in conjunction with other departments in the University.
ADMISSION
Requirements for admission to the graduate program in physics, in addition to those of the Graduate College, are 20 hours of physics, excluding courses in general physics and including a semester of intermediate theoretical mechanics, and two semesters of intermediate electricity, intermediate mechanics, and one or two semesters of undergraduate quantum mechanics. Additional undergraduate studies that also affect admission include light, thermodynamics, and mathematics through at least advanced calculus and differential equations. Students who lack some of the prerequisite courses will be considered for admission but must take the prerequisite course during their first year without graduate credit.
All applicants should submit verbal, quantitative, analytic, and particularly advanced physics Graduate Record Examination scores. If an applicant find this difficult or believes that the scores are not indicative of his or her true ability, a letter of explanation should be submitted. A letter of explanation is also required for "pass" grades in any advanced undergraduate physics course, which should be written by the instructors of the courses and sent directly to the Department of Physics.
MASTER OF SCIENCE
This program requires eight units of graduate courses and is usually completed in one year of full-time study by students entering in full standing. Students entering with deficiencies may require up to two years to complete the degree requirements. Precise statements of degree requirements may be obtained from the graduate advising office of the Department of Physics.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Students working for the Ph.D. degree usually require from four to six years to complete the requirements. Students admitted with full standing are expected to pass the qualifying examinations within the first eighteen months of residence and the preliminary examinations within the following eighteen months. Departmental requirements for the doctor of philosophy degree, in addition to the general requirements of the Graduate College, are described in a pamphlet that may be obtained from the graduate advising office of the Department of Physics.
RELATED PROGRAMS
For information concerning astronomy, see page 209; for atmospheric sciences, page 210; biophysics, page 211; geophysics, page 232. A doctoral program in chemical physics is described on page 214.
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