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Program Description
Physics is the most basic of the natural sciences. It is concerned with understanding the world on all scales of length, time, and energy. The methods of physics are diverse, but they share a common objective to develop and refine fundamental models that quantitatively explain observations and the results of experiments. The discoveries of physics rank among the most important achievements of human inquiry and have had an enormous impact on human culture and civilization. Members of the department conduct research in the fields of astrophysics, biophysics, cosmology, elementary particle physics, gravitation, hard and soft condensed matter physics, and statistical physics, carrying out experimental work in state-of-the art laboratories in the department and at such national and international facilities as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and large astronomical observatories.
The educational programs of the department are aimed at providing a range of courses to meet the needs of different student groups. For undergraduate Physics majors, there is a rigorous core program, exposure to current frontiers, and opportunities for research. For science majors outside of Physics, there are technical courses that emphasize the fundamental physical laws that underpin other sciences; and for other majors, nontechnical courses introduce some of the most important concepts of physics and their impact on the contemporary world.
Honors Program
Students who have completed at least 64 credits of graded work in the College may be awarded degrees with departmental honors in Physics if they meet all requirements of the major, complete the designated honors requirements, and maintain the requisite grade point average of 3.65 both in the major and overall.
The honors program must minimally be a two-term (8-credit) research experience that includes a capstone research project. The capstone project, which typically culminates in a thesis, should reflect sustained original research over two semesters. A committee of three faculty members of the Department of Physics is created for each honors student. The honors thesis must be approved by the committee, who will judge if the research is of sufficient quality. Publication in a recognized research journal of an article reporting research done primarily by the student is prima facie evidence that the research is deserving of honors. Because of inevitable delay in publication, an article submitted for publication may not be published in the time available, and the thesis committee may express its opinion that the thesis is of publishable quality.
All students completing departmental honors must make public presentations of their work, which may be at the CAS Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) held at the end of the academic year, or in a departmental forum (e.g., oral defenses or presentations), or at a recognized physics conference. Students should apply at the latest by April of junior year. For more information, visit the Physics website.
Admissions
New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU. For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply.
Program Requirements
The major requires eighteen courses (53 to 55 credits) completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count) as outlined below.
Students planning to do graduate work in physics or related areas are advised to take the following courses in year 3 or 4: PHYS-UA 124 Quantum Mechanics II and PHYS-UA 210 Computational Physics.
Acceptable Advanced Electives in Physics for the BA and BS Majors
The courses below are offered in either the fall or spring term (not both), and some are not offered every year. Please see course descriptions in this Bulletin for prerequisites and frequency of offering. Additional electives may be available; majors should contact the Department of Physics for more information.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have acquired:
- A fundamental command of physics, as well as of the subdisciplines of classical mechanics and electromagnetism, special relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical and thermal physics.
- Facility in advanced topics (chosen from among general relativity, condensed matter physics, biophysics, and others) relevant to modern research.
- The mathematical skills required to describe and predict the behavior of physical systems from first principles.
- The experimental and analytical skills needed to test the application of physical laws to real systems.
Policies
Program Policies
Advanced Placement Policy
In the summer before their first year, students considering a major in Physics may consult with the department about possibly counting credit for AP Physics C: Mechanics and/or AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism toward the major and placing out of Physics I (PHYS-UA 91) and/or Physics II (PHYS-UA 93), respectively. Students are usually advised, however, to take Physics I and II at NYU as a foundation for doing well in the major curriculum. If majors are granted permission to place out of PHYS-UA 91 and 93, they must still complete the laboratory classes that are taken with those lectures (Introductory Experimental Physics I and II, PHYS-UA 71 and 72). They are also required to take (with departmental advisement) one or two additional advanced PHYS-UA electives (beyond the basic major requirement of two advanced electives in this department). Finally, Physics majors who are prehealth must be sure to present a year of physics with labs to meet admissions requirements of health professional schools; they cannot rely on their Physics AP C exams to meet the requirements of these schools. No other AP credit in Physics (or from similar international exams) can be applied to the requirements of the Physics major.
Although Physics I and Physics II have a number of topics that are nominally included in the AP Physics C curriculum, they are all treated in greater depth and with more rigor in our courses, which use differential and integral calculus. In addition, Physics I and Physics II cover several topics that are not included in a high school AP course. These include approximately two weeks on Einstein’s theory of special relativity in Physics I, and AC circuits, phasors, electromagnetic radiation, Maxwell’s equations, and Poynting’s theorem in Physics II. Students with credit for either or both of the AP Physics C exams will not find Physics I and II to be redundant.
Mathematics Requirement
Potential Physics majors should begin their calculus sequence in the fall semester of their first year. Students are advised to take advanced mathematics courses—such as Linear Algebra (MATH-UA 140)—as they proceed in the major.
School of Engineering courses
This option is open only to students with declared majors in the Department of Physics. They may seek prior permission from the director of undergraduate studies to take advanced electives in the School of Engineering and apply them to the major. This is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. These courses count against each student’s 16-credit allowance in the other divisions of NYU and cannot be applied to the 64 credit UA residency requirement.
NYU Policies
University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.
College of Arts and Science Policies
A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.