Physics

Physics students study the basic laws of mechanics, heat and thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, relativity, quantum mechanics, and elementary particles. Students also study applications of the basic theories to the description of bulk matter, including the mechanical, electric, magnetic, and thermal properties of solids, liquids, gases, and plasmas, and to the description of the structure of atoms and nuclei. In addition, students develop the laboratory skills and techniques of the experimental physicist, skills that can be applied in the experimental search for new knowledge or in applications relating to known theories.

A majority of physics graduates go to graduate school in physics, often earning the Ph.D. degree. These graduates take university or college faculty positions, or work on research in a variety of university, government, or industrial laboratories. Some students choose employment immediately after the bachelor’s degree. They use their many approved and free electives to supplement their science background with applied courses, such as engineering, to develop the skills needed for a position in a particular area.

Because of the fundamental role of physics in all natural sciences, students also use the physics major as an excellent preparation for graduate study in many other scientific areas, such as optical engineering, applied mathematics, computer science, biophysics, molecular biology, astrophysics, geology and geophysics, materials science and engineering, meteorology, or physical oceanography. Attractive engineering areas with a high science content include optical communications, aeronautical engineering, nuclear engineering, including both fission and fusion devices; electrical engineering, including instrumentation; electronics and solid-state devices, electrical discharges and other plasma-related areas; and mechanical engineering and mechanics, including fluids and continuum mechanics. The broad scientific background developed in the physics curriculum is also an excellent background for professional schools, such as law (particularly patent law), medicine, and optometry.

Lehigh offers three undergraduate degrees in physics and two undergraduate degrees in astronomy or astrophysics. The three physics degrees are the bachelor of arts with a major in physics and the bachelor of science in physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the bachelor of engineering physics in the College of Engineering and Applied Science. The B.A. with a major in astronomy and the B.S. in astrophysics are in the College of Arts and Sciences and are described in the Astronomy and Astrophysics section of this catalog.

In addition, there are several five-year, dual-degree programs involving physics: The Arts-Engineering program (see the Arts-Engineering section of this catalog), the combination of the bachelor of science program in the College of Arts and Sciences with electrical engineering (described below), and the combination of electrical engineering and engineering physics (see the Electrical Engineering and Engineering Physics section of this catalog).

The bachelor of science curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences requires somewhat more physics and mathematics than the bachelor of arts major, while the latter provides more free electives and fewer hours for graduation. By making good use of the electives in these programs, students can pursue graduate work in physics or physical aspects of other science or engineering disciplines, or technical careers requiring a basic knowledge of physics. The bachelor of arts curriculum is particularly useful for those planning careers in areas where some knowledge of physics is needed or useful, but is not the main subject, such as science writing, secondary school teaching, patent law, or medicine. The bachelor of science in engineering physics curriculum in the College of Engineering and Applied Science requires an engineering concentration in either solid state electronics or optical sciences, in addition to regular physics and mathematics courses. This four-year program prepares students to do engineering work in an overlap area between physics and engineering.  This may involve engineering in a forefront area in which it is desirable to have more physics knowledge than that typically provided in an engineering program.  It may be a field of experimental physics which either relies heavily on forefront engineering or in which the nature of the problem dictates that scientists and engineers will accomplish more working together rather than separately.

Requirements and recommended course sequences are described below for programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the P. C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. Note that no more than 6 credits of military science may be applied toward any degree program.

College of Arts and Sciences

B.A. with Major in Physics Program Requirements

A total of 120 credits are required for the BA in Physics

B.S. in Physics Program Requirements

A total of 123 credits are required for the BS in Physics

RECOMMENDED SEQUENCE OF COURSES

The recommended sequence of courses for physics degree programs are indicated below. General electives are not indicated, but they should be selected in consultation with the advisor so that educational goals and total credit hour requirements are satisfied.

B.A. with a Major in Physics, College of Arts & Sciences

B.S. in Physics, College of Arts & Sciences

*

Or an equivalent course in scientific computing.

P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Sciences

Both concentrations require 131 credit hours.  The tables below indicate both course requirements and recommended enrollment sequences. 

Bachelor of Engineering Physics

with a concentration in Solid State Electronics

(1)

The 11 credit hours of SSE (Solid State Engineering) electives must include ECE 257 or ECE 258 or PHY 273.

Other advanced physics or engineering courses may be included among the SSE electives with the approval of the student’s advisor.

with a concentration in Optical Sciences

(1)

 The 18 credit hours of OE (Optical Engineering) electives must include ECE 257 or ECE 258 or PHY 273. Must include at least two of ECE 347, ECE 348, ECE 371, ECE 372.
Other advanced physics or engineering courses may be included among the OE electives with the approval of the student’s advisor.

Combined B.S.(Physics)/B.S.(Electrical Engineering)

The combined arts/engineering programs resulting in bachelors degrees in both physics and electrical engineering may be arranged so that either of the two degrees is completed within the first four years. The suggested curricula are:

Physics-Elec. Engr  (Physics first)

Elec. Engr-Physics (Electrical Engineering First)

Physics approved electives

Students must satisfy both the HSS requirements of the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the distribution requirements, including the junior writing intensive requirement, of the College of Arts and Sciences. Courses appropriate for both may be counted in both categories.

Approved electives are subject to the approval of the student’s advisor. Students planning graduate work in physics are advised to include PHY 273 and PHY 369 among their electives.

Astronomy/Astrophysics Degree Programs

(See the Astronomy section in this catalog.)

Research opportunities

A majority of physics, astronomy, and engineering physics majors take advantage of opportunities to participate in research under the direction of a faculty member. Research areas available to undergraduates are the same as those available to graduate students; they are described below under the heading For Graduate Students. Undergraduate student research is arranged informally as early as the sophomore (or, occasionally, freshman) year at the initiation of the student or formally as a senior research project. In addition, a number of students receive financial support to do research during the summer between their junior and senior years, either as Physics Department Summer Research Participants or as Sherman Fairchild Scholars.

The use of electives

The electives available in each of the physics and astronomy curricula provide the student with an opportunity to develop special interests and to prepare for graduate work in various allied areas. In particular, the many available upper-level physics, mathematics, and engineering courses can be used by students in consultation with their faculty advisors to structure programs with special emphases in a variety of areas such as optical communications, solid-state electronics, or biophysics.

Departmental Honors

Students may earn departmental honors by satisfying the following requirements:

• Grade point average of at least 3.50 in physics courses.
• Complete 6 credits of PHY 273 (research), or summer REU project, submit a written report, and give an oral presentation open to faculty and students.
• Complete three courses from the list:

• Select one of the following:		3
  PHY 332	High-Energy Astrophysics
  PHY 342	General Relativity
  PHY 348	Plasma Physics	3
  PHY 363	Physics of Solids	3
  PHY 352	Modern Optics	3
  or PHY 355	Nonlinear Optics
  PHY 369	Quantum Mechanics II	3
  PHY 380	Introduction to Computational Physics	3
  Any 400 level Physics course

For students majoring in astronomy or astrophysics, see the Astronomy and Astrophysics section of this catalog.

Five-Year combined bachelor/master’s programs

Five-Year programs that lead to successive bachelor and master’s degrees are available. These programs satisfy all of the requirements of one of the five bachelor’s degrees in physics (B.A., B.S., B.S.E.P.) and astronomy/astrophysics (B.A., B.S.), plus the requirements of the M.S. in physics in the final year. Depending upon the undergraduate degree received, one summer in residence may be required. Interested students should contact the associate chair of physics no later than the spring semester of their junior year for further detail.

The minor program

The minor in physics requires 15 credits of Physics and Astronomy courses. These must include PHY 031,  plus at least 6 credit hours at the 100 level or above. No more than one course required for a student’s major program can be counted towards the number of credits for the physics minor. The minor program must be approved by the physics department chair or undergraduate advisor to ensure a coherent intellectual theme. Examples of course sequences for the minor program can be found on the Physics Department WebSite.

For Graduate Students

The department of physics has concentrated its research activities within several fields of physics, with the result that a number of projects are available in each area. Current departmental research activities include the following:

Astronomy and Astrophysics.  Current research involves theoretical and observational studies of stars and planets. Particular areas of interest in stellar astrophysics are young open clusters, binary stars, X-ray binaries, the formation of disks in Be stars, and stellar pulsations. Research on planets involves the discovery and characterization of exoplanets orbiting bright stars and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics​.  Current research investigates the physics of quantum many-body systems through studies of ultracold atomic gases. Topics include superfluidity, spin and heat transport, and thermodynamics of strongly interacting Fermi gases. Experiments employ laser cooling and optical trapping to produce quantum degenerate atomic gases, and tailored optical potentials, radiofrequency spectroscopy and other techniques to perform measurements. Research also includes thermalization and condensation of photons in dye media confined within a narrow optical cavity.

Biophysics. Researchers in the physics department employ experimental as well as mathematical and computational modeling to study the organization and dynamics of biological systems. They are involved in interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers in biology, bioengineering and related fields. Areas of research involve experimental and theoretical studies of mechanical properties of cells and biomaterials using techniques such as optical tweezers and optical microscopy; modeling studies of cell division, cell motion, polarized growth, and mating; physics of cytoskeletal self-organization; and experimental study of lipid membranes using microfluidics and confocal microscopy.

Computational Physics​. Many of the fields of physics research at Lehigh involve the use of state-of-the-art computers to address large-scale computational problems. Researchers in the physics department employ computational approaches to model complex many-body systems in condensed matter, biological, and quantum systems; the detection of variable signals in large astronomical surveys; coarse-grained models of biological systems with molecular dynamics, statistical, and continuum methods. The computational research is performed at both high performance computing facilities on campus and in national facilities.

Condensed Matter Physics. Areas of interest include the optical and electronic properties of defects in semiconductors and insulators; collective dynamics of disordered solids; structural phase transitions in ferroelectrics and superconducting crystals; organic molecular crystals; exciton dynamics, singlet-triplet conversion, and in general the physics of electronic and optoelectronic devices; the quantum physics of matter, fields, and their interactions at the nanoscale; surfaces, interfaces and heterostructures; emergent physics in low-dimensional materials; strongly correlated electronic systems, topological phases of matter, unconventional superconductivity, and classical and quantum phase transitions.

High Energy Nuclear Experimental Physics.  Current research involves the study of relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) and sPHENIX experiments at Brookhaven National labs. This field of research focuses on the study of matter under extreme conditions of temperature, density, and pressure, where the quarks and gluons that make up normal nuclear matter are no longer confined into hadrons. This deconfined matter is called the quark gluon plasma (QGP), and experiments use high-energy probes, such as particle jets and heavy flavor quarks, to determine how quarks and gluons lose energy in this medium.

High Energy Theory.  String theory, quantum field theory and cosmology. Areas of interest include the connection between gravitational theories and quantum field theories, holographic gauge/gravity dualities, the behavior of strongly correlated quantum phases of matter, and the evolution of the early universe.

Nonlinear Optics and Photonics.​  Research topics include nonlinear light-matter interaction that enables the control of light with light, four-wave mixing, phase conjugation, and wavelength conversion. We develop materials for second- and third-order nonlinear optics in particular organic molecular assemblies, and in general study materials and effects for photonics and optoelectronics. Examples include single crystals in glass, photonic crystals, holey and other specialty fibers, waveguides, resonant Brillouin scattering, and ferroelectric domain patterning for quasi phase matching. There is also considerable work on applications of photonics to biological systems, near-field optics, and thermal radiation.

Plasma Physics.   Laboratory studies of collisional and collisionless phenomena in supercritical laser-produced plasmas. Laboratory simulation of supernova emissions in the mid-infrared by excitation of interstellar nano-crystallites by strong shock waves in a new cryogenic diaphragm-less shock tube facility

Soft Condensed Matter and Complex Fluids.   Biopolymer networks, biomembranes, and colloidal suspensions are investigated using experimental techniques such as confocal microscopy, laser tweezers, electro-osmotic control, microfluidics, in combination with image analysis and computational modeling. Research areas include phase separation on cell membranes, microrheology of macromolecules and living cells, generalized sedimentation equilibrium of colloidal suspensions, active colloidal suspensions far from equilibrium, diffusion in complex and/or crowded environments, and formation and evolution of nanoscale complexes in solutions.

Statistical Physics. Research includes equilibrium and nonequilibrium fluctuations in gases and liquids; genesis and dynamics of disorder in 2-D solids near percolation threshold; and modeling of transport in disordered metallic solids under thermal forcing.

Candidates for advanced degrees normally will have completed, before beginning their graduate studies, the requirements for a bachelor’s degree with a major in physics, including advanced mathematics beyond differential and integral calculus. Students lacking the equivalent of this preparation will make up deficiencies in addition to taking the specified work for the degree sought.

At least eight semester hours of general college physics using calculus are required for admission to all 200- and 300-level courses. Additional prerequisites for individual courses are noted in the course descriptions. Admission to 400-level courses generally is predicated on satisfactory completion of corresponding courses in the 200- and 300-level groups or their equivalent.

Facilities for Research

Research facilities are housed in the Sherman Fairchild Center for the Physical Sciences, containing Lewis Laboratory, the Sherman Fairchild Laboratory for Solid State Studies, and a large connecting research wing. Resources include a machine shop, electronics shop, and networked computer facilities.

Lehigh researchers in astrophysics are involved in a number of worldwide astrophysics surveys and collaborations, including the KELT exoplanet survey, the NASA K2 and TESS missions, LSST, and WFIRST. Lehigh researchers in experimental high energy nuclear physics participate in collaborations affiliated with the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab. These include the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) and the sPHENIX collaborations.

Instruments used for experimental studies include a wide variety of laser systems, spectrometers, and microscopes. Examples include femtosecond and picosecond pulsed and dye lasers, various spectrometers (Raman and Fourier-transform), a facility for luminescence microscopy, a cell culture facility, and a laser-tweezers system for studies of cells and complex fluids. The Fairchild Laboratory also houses a processing laboratory where advanced Si devices can be fabricated and studied.

Several physics professors are also members of interdisciplinary initiatives that offer a wide range of state-of-the art facilities including a fiber drawing tower, waveguide and fiber characterization labs, and a new epitaxy facility for the growth of III-V semiconductor structures and devices. World-class electron microscopy facilities are also available. Members of the physics department also participate in Lehigh’s Emulsions Polymer Institute, the Institute for Functional Materials and Devices, and the Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation.

Extensive up-to-date computer facilities are available on campus and in the department. High Performance Computing facilities (http://www.lehigh.edu/computing/hpc/), can be accessed directly from graduate student and faculty offices through a high speed backbone. Access to the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) is available through computing time allocations to Lehigh faculty.