Physics
Chair of the Department: Brian P. Tonner
Graduate Program Coordinator: Michael Johnson
MAP 310, (407) 823-5199.
E-mail: graduate@physics.ucf.edu
Faculty
Professors: S. K. Bose, Ph.D.; J. J. Brennan, Ph.D.; L. Chow, Ph.D.; R. A. Llewellyn, Ph.D.; J. E. Neighbor, Ph.D.; H. P. Saha, Ph.D.; B. P. Tonner, Ph.D.Associate Professors: J. S. Bolemon, Ph.D.; M. D. Johnson, Ph.D.; W. Luo, Ph.D.; R. E. Peale, Ph.D.; A. Schulte, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor: N. G. Barlow, Ph.D.; L. Chernyak, Ph.D.; R. VanFleet, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor: M. Dogariu, Ph.D.; J. Evans, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professors: N. Baranova, Ph.D.; I. Kimel, Ph.D.; J. Shivamoggi, Ph.D.
Joint Appointees: M. Bass, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; B. H. T. Chai, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; L. R. Elias, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; M. C. Richardson, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; S. Shivamoggi, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics; W. T. Silfvast, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; M. J. Soileau, Ph.D., Professor of Optics and Vice President for Research; G. I. Stegeman, Ph.D., Cobb-Hooker Eminent Scholar Chair of Optical and Laser Sciences and Engineering; E. W. Van Stryland, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; B. Zel’dovich, Ph.D., Professor of Optics; P. Delfyett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Optics; D. J. Hagan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Optics; A. Kar, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Optics; G. Li, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Optics
The Department of Physics offers a Master of Science degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Research opportunities are available in condensed matter physics, nanostructure devices, surface science, optical physics, complex systems, biophysics, and atomic and molecular physics. The graduate degree program has a track in optical physics.
Application Deadlines
| Fall admission | February 15* |
| Fall admission | July 15 |
* Students applying for fellowships or assistantships must apply for the fall semester by this date. For those not requiring financial assistance, the application deadline is July 15.
Admission
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required of all applicants, and the Physics Subject Test of the GRE is recommended. Minimum requirements in order to be considered for admission to the graduate program in Physics are the standard university criteria of a 3.0 (A=4) grade point average (GPA) for the last 60 attempted semester hours of credit earned toward the baccalaureate, or a GRE score of at least 1000 on the combined verbal-quantitative sections of the General (Aptitude) Test. International students and students whose native language is not English must score at least 220 (computer-based test; or equivalent score on the paper-based test) on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).All admissions to graduate status are competitive and based on availability of faculty for sponsoring research. Students entering the graduate program with regular status are normally expected to have completed course work generally required for a bachelor’s degree in physics, including mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics, and quantum mechanics. The admission deadline for the fall semester of each academic year is July 15.
Master of Science in Physics
Minimum Hours Required for M.S.—33 Semester HoursThe Master of Science in Physics degree requires a total of 33 semester hours. The student has the option of choosing tracks in general physics or optical physics. In both tracks, there are thesis and non-thesis options for the master’s degree. All master’s students must take 18 semester hours of core courses, identical to the Ph.D. core courses. The thesis option requires 9 additional semester hours of electives, plus a minimum of 6 semester hours of thesis and a satisfactory defense. The non-thesis option instead requires 15 semester hours of electives and a written comprehensive exit examination. All electives must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. Courses titled “for teachers” do not satisfy elective requirements for the Master of Science in Physics.
Core Courses—18 Semester Hours
All students are required to take:
PHY 5606 Quantum Mechanics I
PHY 5346 Electrodynamics I
PHY 6347 Electrodynamics II
The remaining core courses depend on which track is selected:
General Physics Track
PHY 5524 Statistical Physics
PHY 6246 Classical Mechanics
PHY 6624 Quantum Mechanics II
Optical Physics Track
OPS 5XXX Interference and Diffraction
EEL 6560 Laser Engineering
PHY 6447 Quantum Optics
Electives—9 to 15 Semester Hours
Thesis—6 Semester Hours
The Master of Science in Physics candidate who has chosen the thesis option is required to conduct
a program of original scientific research or some investigation involving a creative element and to
submit a written thesis detailing these investigations. An oral defense and examination of the
thesis is required.
Doctor of Philosophy in Physics
A student has the option of choosing tracks in general physics or optical physics. Both tracks require a total of 72 semester hours for completion and specify a set of six required core courses (18 hours), four electives (12 hours), and a minimum of 15 hours of dissertation. The remaining twenty-seven hours may consist of appropriately selected research, dissertation, and elective courses. The electives are advanced courses in physics or other fields and are chosen by the student in consultation with the student’s advisory committee. At least 3 hours of the electives must be outside the student’s research specialty. In addition, each student is required to participate in the Physics Colloquium/Seminar program. No more than 12 semester hours of independent study may be credited toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree.Minimum Hours Required for Ph.D.—72 Semester Hours
Core Courses—18 Semester Hours
All students are required to take:
PHY 5606 Quantum Mechanics I
PHY 5346 Electrodynamics I
PHY 6347 Electrodynamics II
The remaining core courses depend on which track is selected:
General Physics Track
PHY 5524 Statistical Physics
PHY 6246 Classical Mechanics
PHY 6624 Quantum Mechanics II
Optical Physics Track
OPS 5XXX Interference and Diffraction
EEL 6560 Laser Engineering
PHY 6447 Quantum Optics
Elective Courses—12 Semester Hours
PHY 5431 Optical Properties of Materials (3 hours)
PHY 6353 Accelerator Physics (3 hours)
PHY 6355 Physics of Free Electrons (3 hours)
PHY 6434 Nonlinear Optics (3 hours)
PHY 6435 Nonlinear Guided Wave Optics (3 hours)
PHY 6448 Specific Laser Systems (3 hours)
PHY 6667 Advanced Quantum Mechanics (3 hours)
PHY 6918 Directed Research (3 hours)
PHY 6938 Special Topics/Seminars (3 hours)
PHY 7423 Physics of Nanostructures (3 hours)
PHZ 5304 Nuclear and Particle Physics (3 hours)
PHZ 5405 Condensed Matter Physics (3 hours)
PHZ 5505 Plasma Physics (3 hours)
PHZ 6156 Advanced Computational Physics (3 hours)
PHZ 6204 Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy (3 hours)
PHZ 6234 Atomic Physics (3 hours)
PHZ 6425 Condensed Matter Physics II (3 hours)
PHZ 6426 Condensed Matter Physics I (3 hours)
Courses from the program or track core courses may be used as electives, as may approved graduate courses from other departments. Courses titled “for teachers” do not satisfy elective requirements for the M.S. or Ph.D. degree in physics.
Additional Electives—27 Semester Hours
Dissertation—15 Semester Hours
Qualifying Examination
Continuation in doctoral status is contingent upon passing a qualifying examination consisting of
written and oral portions that cover all material included in the core courses and undergraduate
preparation in physics. The written examination is divided into two sections appropriate to the
track, and also covers statistical mechanics and classical mechanics at the advanced undergraduate
level. Students are required to take the qualifying exam after three semesters (excluding summers).
A second and final opportunity must follow at the next available exam. A student failing at the
second attempt may continue toward a master’s degree.
Candidacy Examination and Dissertation Proposal
The student writes a proposal of the research planned for the dissertation and then is orally
examined on it and the general research area by the dissertation committee. This examination can be
attempted anytime after passing the qualifying examination, and after the student has begun
research. Typically it should be taken a semester or two after the qualifying examination. After
passing the candidacy examination, the student can register for official dissertation hours
(PHY 7980). Before passing the candidacy, research credit can be earned as PHY 6918.
Dissertation Defense
The final oral defense of the dissertation is administered by the student’s dissertation committee
following completion of a written dissertation describing the student’s research.
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