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DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS Description of the program of the physics department The Physics Department offers a program leading to a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics. The main objectives of the Physics program are twofold: to provide the students with a clear and logical presentation of the basic concepts and principles of physics, and to strengthen their understanding of the concepts and principles through a broad range of interesting applications to the real world. Credits needed for the degree A student majoring in Physics needs to earn a total of 129 credits distributed as follows.
MAJOR IN PHYSICS The Physics Major consists of a total of 69 credits to include all the required courses listed in the tables below and a minimum of 7 credit courses to be selected from the electives list. Required Physics Major Courses
Elective Physics Major Courses
Required Science Courses
Students majoring in physics are provided the opportunity to minor in a discipline other than their major field. A student may take any minor offered by the faculty of science such as telecommunications, mathematics, information technology, chemistry, industrial chemistry, biology or medical technology. A student may also take a minor program consisting of 18 credits in the Faculties of Arts, Sciences, and Business Administration. The University requirements for all science students total 34 credits. The Mathematics requirement is met by MATH 141 and the Science requirement by BIOL 141 and PHYS 131. Criteria for acceptance to major Students are accepted to major in Physics after their third semester provided that they have earned at least 40 credits and that all of the following conditions are met:
Paradigm of Courses BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN PHYSICS
Minors offered by the Physics Department In addition to the major in physics, the Physics Department provides the opportunity for all students to join the program towards a minor in physics or telecommunications. To earn either of these minors, students are required to successfully complete all of the relevant courses listed below. MINOR IN PHYSICS The Physics Minor consists of a total of 17/18 credits to include the following required courses and any four/three credits from the list of physics courses.
MINOR IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS The Telecommunications Minor consists of a total of 18 credits to include the following courses.
DIPLOMA IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS The Diploma in Telecommunications consists of 30 credits, as listed below.
Description of courses PHYS 113 Laboratory Practice (Cr. 1) Laboratory work involves studies in the following areas: basic theory of various laboratory equipment, experiments of mechanical concepts, the use of electrical components and meters, power supplies, signal generators, oscilloscope, and DC and AC circuits. Prerequisite: PHYS 131 PHYS 121 Physics for Physiotherapy (Cr. 2) Introductory treatment of the following subjects with emphasis on applications to the human body and equipment used by physiotherapists: forces, Newton’s three laws, rotational equilibrium, work and energy, momentum and collisions, electrostatic and Coulomb’s law, electric field and potential, DC and AC current circuits, diffraction, polarization, reflection and refraction of waves PHYS 131 General Physics I (Cr. 3) Introductory treatment of the following subjects: vectors, particle kinematics and dynamics, work, conservation of energy and momentum, rotational kinematics and dynamics, conservation of angular momentum, oscillations. PHYS 132 General Physics II (Cr. 3) Gravitation, fluid mechanics, wave motion, temperature, heat and entropy, the first and second laws of thermodynamics, kinetic theory, the electric field, Gauss’s law, the electric potential, capacitance, current and resistance, direct current circuits will be covered. Prerequisite: PHYS 131 PHYS 231 Introduction to Components with Lab (PHYS 003) (Cr. 3) This course will cover passive components; identification, soldering, and manufacturing techniques, basic electronic circuits, and Laplace transform and filter analysis. Prerequisite: PHYS 244 (concurrently) PHYS 242 Modern Physics with Lab (PHYS 005) (Cr. 4) This course incorporates the following topics: fundamentals of special theory of relativity, introduction to quantum mechanics, atomic physics, solid state physics, nuclear physics and elementary particles. Prerequisite: PHYS 132 PHYS 244 General Physics III with Lab (PHYS 006) (Cr. 4) Magnetic fields, Faraday’s law, inductance, alternating current circuits, electromagnetic waves, geometric optics, interference, diffraction and polarization will be covered. Prerequisite: PHYS 132 PHYS 331 Electromagnetism I (Cr. 3) An introduction to the field of electromagnetism covering the following topics: electrostatics and magnetostatics, microscopic theory of dielectrics, electric current, electric and magnetic fields and energies, boundary value problems, and Maxwell’s equations. Prerequisite: PHYS 244 and MATH 234 (concurrently) PHYS 332 Electromagnetism II (Cr. 3) A continuation of Phys 331 which focuses on Maxwell’s equations, electromagnetic waves in homogeneous isotropic media, and the theory of diffraction. Prerequisite: PHYS 331 PHYS 333 Classical Mechanics (Cr. 3) A course in the kinematics and dynamics of mass points, examples of a system of mass points, Lagrange’s equations, and mechanics of rigid media. Prerequisite: PHYS 132 and MATH 234 (concurrently) PHYS 334 Solid State Physics (Cr. 3) An introductory course in solid state physics which covers: crystal structure defects and dislocations, crystal diffraction and the reciprocal lattice, phonons, lattice vibrations, free electron fermi gas, energy bands, semiconductor crystals, fermi surfaces, metals and theories of conduction and magnetism. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 PHYS 335 Astronomy (Cr. 3) An introduction to stellar distances, luminosities, classification of stars, variable stars, interstellar matter, the local galaxy, other galaxies, and the universe. Prerequisite: PHYS 132 PHYS 336 Methods of Mathematical Physics (Cr. 3) Vector analysis, theory of analytic functions, special functions of mathematical physics, partial differential equations of mathematical physics and theory of matrices will be covered. Prerequisite: MATH 234 PHYS 338 Thermal & Statistical Physics (Cr. 3) The course deals with the fundamentals of thermodynamics: equation of state, heat flow, entropy, first and second laws of thermodynamics. Kinetic theory and various statistical methods will be covered with applications to gases. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 PHYS 339 Advanced Physics Laboratory (Cr. 3) This course involves advanced experiments in various fields of physics with emphasis on the scientific methods for the acquisition and analysis of experimental data. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 PHYS 343 Introduction to Electronics with Lab (PHYS 007) (Cr. 4) Introduction to semiconductors, diodes, rectifiers, LED, transistors, properties of basic BJT and FET, in addition to CMOS, TTL and ICs. Digital and analogue amplifier stages, the operational amplifier, the fundamental concepts and circuits using standard ICs will also be covered. Prerequisite: PHYS 231 PHYS 381 Modern Optics (Cr. 3) This course is review of geometrical and wave optics, linear and circular polarization, coherence and interference, multiple-beam interferometry, Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction, atomic spectra, light-matter interaction, lasers, and holography. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 PHYS 389 Projects in Physics (Cr. 1) Small research and development projects under the supervision of a staff member will be given. The project will involve collecting empirical data. The results of the project will be written up as a thesis and presented in a seminar for assessment. PHYS 431 Nuclear and Elementary Particles Physics (Cr. 3) In this course the following subjects are introduced: nuclear size, concepts of spin, parity and statistics, alpha, beta and gamma decay, natural radioactivity, nuclear reactions, nuclear forces, fission and fusion, properties and interactions of elementary particles and the experimental techniques. Prerequisite: PHYS 432 PHYS 432 Quantum Mechanics (Cr. 3) This course involves a study of the basic principles of quantum theory and their experimental justification, wave mechanics of a single particle, examples in one dimension, the square well and the harmonic oscillator, and solution of the Schroedinger equation in three dimensions for central potentials. Prerequisite: PHYS 336 (concurrently) PHYS 434 Plasma Physics (Cr. 3) This is an introductory course in plasma physics. It consists of a description of the collisionless plasma, particle orbit theory, and Vlasov equation, the dielectric tensor, and wave propagation in cold plasma. Prerequisite: PHYS 331 PHYS 435 Devices and Application in Solid State Physics (Cr. 3) This is an introductory course which involves a study of metal-semiconductor contacts, p-n junction diodes, junction transistor, physical concepts of semiconductor devices, e.g. tunnel diodes, MIS: lasers gun effect, etc., and microelectronics. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 PHYS 438 Atomic and Molecular Physics (Cr. 3) This course emphasizes the following: theory of angular momentum and spin and the addition of angular momenta, the hydrogen and helium atoms, many electron atoms and Hartree-Fock calculations, molecular vibrations and rotations, the hydrogen molecule. Prerequisite: PHYS 432 PHYS 439 Relativity (Cr. 3) Postulates of special relativity, the Lorentz transformation, space-time vector algebra, relativistic dynamics, covariant form of electrodynamics, tensor algebra in 4-dimensional space-time, introduction to the general theory of relativity will be covered. Prerequisite: PHYS 242 TLCM 331 Communication Theories (Cr. 3) The course is a review of basic theories to be followed with transmission and propagation of waves, transmission media and channels, modulation and de-modulation techniques covering all the frequency spectrum. (Visual aids will be incorporated in this course). Prerequisite: PHYS 343 TLCM 341 Power Electronics and Solid State Devices (Cr. 4) Lab (TLCM 003) The course is an introduction to electricity, single phase and three-phase power generation and distribution. Power electronics (thyristors, triacs etc.) and solid state devices (e.g. hybrid components) will be covered in some detail. The lab work for this course will include the following topics: single phase power supply, 3 phase power supply, motors (synchronous, induction, etc), speed control and power control circuits, converters/inverters, transformers, UPS and some demonstration experiments. Prerequisite: PHYS 343 TLCM 418 Introduction to Computer Software and Internet (Cr. 1) Introduction to commercially available software on telecommunications and electronics is given and also on techniques on information retrieval from the Internet. Prerequisite: PHYS 343 and CAIT 131 TLCM 419 Project in Telecommunications (Cr. 1) A small project per student under the supervision of a staff member will be given. The project will involve the design, construction and testing of an application. The results of the project will be written up as a thesis and presented in a seminar for assessment. Prerequisites: TLCM 442 and TLCM 443 TLCM 423 Low Voltage Systems with Lab (TLCM 004) (Cr. 2) The course starts with an introduction to low voltage systems to be followed by a study of the following applications: fire alarm systems, intrusion detection, access control, audio systems, video & optics, data communication, energy management, and integrated systems. Prerequisite: TLCM 442 and TLCM 443 TLCM 441 Pulse Circuits with Lab (TLCM 005) (Cr. 4) This course covers systems analysis/design for processing analog and digital data, generation and synchronization of sweeps, switching considerations of MOSFET and multivibrators, active-element memories, D-A and A-D converters. Prerequisite: PHYS 343 TLCM 442 Wireless Communication Systems (Cr. 4) with Lab (TLCM 006) Factors affecting wireless transmission, antenna theory, transmitters/ receivers within HF, VHF, UHF, satellite and microwave bands, wireless telephony and GSM, and communications theories with an introduction to systems design will be covered. Prerequisite: TLCM 331 TLCM 443 Wire Communication Systems (Cr. 4) with Lab (TLCM 007) Telephony cables, shielded and unshielded twisted pair, coaxial cables, fiber optics, switching systems, video/audio and data transmission systems and techniques will be covered. Prerequisite: TLCM 331 |
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