 | | Physics Undergraduate Programs | | |
Our B.S. degree in Applied Physics is accredited by the Middle States Accreditation Board. Our graduates have a wide range of career opportunities beyond the pursuit of a traditional graduate degree in physics, including employment in a variety of other disciplines such as chemistry, life science, engineering or environmental science. Those who choose to further their physics education are accepted into graduate program at some of the best schools.
The Department of Physics and Engineering Physics also offers an Undergraduate Engineering Physics (EP) Program, which leads to a BS degree in Engineering Physics in four concentrations, Applied Optics, Microelectronics and Photonics, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, or Plasma and Surface Physics. The program aims to attract students who are intrigued by the possibility of combining a mastery of basic physics concepts with exposure to state-of-the-art engineering technology in selected high-tech areas.  You may qualify for a minor in physics by taking the required courses indicated below. Completion of a minor indicates a proficiency beyond that provided by the Stevens curriculum in the basic material of the selected area. If you are enrolled in a minor program, you must meet the Institute requirements. In addition, the grade in any course credited for a minor must be "C" or better.
Course Requirements for Minor in Physics
- PEP 111 Mechanics
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Mechanics |
Vectors, kinetics, Newton’s laws, dynamics or particles, work and energy, friction, conserverative forces, linear momentum, center-of-mass and relative motion, collisions, angular momentum, static equilibrium, rigid body rotation, Newton’s law of gravity, simple harmonic motion, wave motion and sound. |
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- PEP 112 Electricity and Magnetism
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Electricity and Magnetism |
Coulomb’s law, concepts of electric field and potential, Gauss’ law, capacitance, current and resistance, DC and R-C transient circuits, magnetic fields, Ampere’s law, Faraday’s law of induction, inductance, A/C circuits, electromagnetic oscillations, Maxwell’s equations and electromagnetic waves. |
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- PEP 209 Modern Optics
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Modern Optics |
Concepts of geometrical optics for reflecting and refracting surfaces, thin and thick lens formulations, optical instruments in modern practice, interference, polarization and diffraction effects, resolving power of lenses and instruments, X-ray diffraction, introduction to lasers and coherent optics, principles of holography, concepts of optical fibers, optical signal processing. Spring semester. |
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- PEP 242 Modern Physics
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Modern Physics |
Simple harmonic motion, oscillations and pendulums; Fourier analysis; wave properties; wave-particle dualism; the Schrödinger equation and its interpretation; wave functions; the Heisenberg uncertainty principle; quantum mechanical tunneling and application; quantum mechanics of a particle in a "box," the hydrogen atom; electronic spin; properties of many electron atoms; atomic spectra; principles of lasers and applications; electrons in solids; conductors and semiconductors; the n-p junction and the transistor; properties of atomic nuclei; radioactivity; fusion and fission. Spring Semester. |
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- PEP 527 Mathematical Methods of Science and Engineering I
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Mathematical Methods of Science and Engineering I |
Fourier series, Bessel functions, and Legendre polynomials as involved in the solution of vibrating systems; tensors and vectors in the theory of elasticity; applications of vector analysis to electrodynamics; vector operations in curvilinear coordinates; numerical methods of interpolation and of integration of functions and differential equations. |
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- PEP 538 Introduction to Mechanics
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Introduction to Mechanics |
Particle motion in one dimension. Simple harmonic oscillators. Motion in two and three dimensions, kinematics, work and energy, conservative forces, central forces, and scattering. Systems of particles, linear and angular momentum theorems, collisions, linear spring systems, and normal modes. Lagrange’s equations and applications to simple systems. Introduction to moment of inertia tensor and to Hamilton’s equations. |
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- PEP 542 Electromagnetism
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Electromagnetism |
Electrostatics; Coulomb-Gauss law; Poisson-Laplace equations; boundary value problems; image techniques;dielectric media; magnetostatics; multipole expansion; electromagnetic energy; electromagnetic induction; Maxwell’s equations; electromagnetic waves, radiation, waves in bounded regions, wave equations and retarded solutions; simple dipole antenna radiation theory; transformation law of electromagnetic fields. Spring semester. Typical text: Reitz, Milford and Christy, Foundation of Electromagnetic Theory. |
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- PEP 553 Quantum Mechanics and Engineering Applications
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Quantum Mechanics and Engineering Applications |
This course is meant to serve as an introduction to formal quantum mechanics as well as to apply the basic formalism to several generic and important applications. |
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| | Interdisciplinary Program in Computational Science | | |
 For students interested in interdisciplinary science and engineering, Stevens offers an undergraduate computational science program. Computational science is a new field in which techniques from mathematics and computer science are used to solve scientific and engineering problems. The program includes an application area in computational physics.
 The Society of Physics Students is a professional association explicitly designed for students. Membership, through collegiate chapters, is open to anyone interested in physics. The only requirement for membership is that you be interested in physics. Besides physics majors, our members include majors in chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, medicine, and other fields.
The Stevens SPS strives to promote a better understanding of physics within the Stevens community and awareness of current events in physics. We see this group as an opportunity to bring together physics majors for times of fellowship and learning. |
