Courses
The tables below list Physics graduate courses (PHY 500 and above) offered since Fall 2023, split by the semester each course is traditionally taught in. A handful of courses – mostly labs and seminars – run every semester and appear in both tables.
- For short descriptions of the courses offered by the Department, refer to the Graduate Bulletin.
- For course instructors and times, the physics department maintains the following Schedule. You can also follow link from the Registrar’s class listings, or search on SOLAR (note: Select the correct semester. We are on “West Campus”).
If you would like to know the course content in advance, please consult the webpages of earlier years or send an email to the instructor. The learning goals of all graduate courses can be found here.
Fall Offerings
The Offered column gives the day/time for courses being taught in Fall 2026, and is blank for courses not running this semester.
| Course (Credits) | Offered | Fall 2026 | Fall 2025 | Fall 2024 |
| PHY 501, Classical Mechanics (3) | MW 9:30-10:50 | Abanov | Goldbart | Goldbart |
| PHY 503, Mathematical Physics (3) | MW 11:00-12:20 | Syritsyn | Syritsyn | Syritsin |
| PHY 503: Math-Phys Optional Supplement (0) | W 12:30-1:50 | Abanov, Goldbart, Syritsyn, Teaney | Abanov, Goldbart, Syritsyn, Teaney | N/A |
| PHY 511, Quantum Mechanics I (3) | TR 11:00-12:20 | Averin | Abanov | Abanov |
| PHY 514, Research Instruments (3) | TR 12:30-1:50 | Metcalf | Metcalf | Weinacht |
| PHY 515, Methods of Experimental Research (3) | MW 2:00-4:50; TR 12:30-3:20 | Dao, Liu, Kumar, Drees, Du | Arnold, Liu, Kumar, Corliss, Drees | Arnold, Bernauer, Figueroa, Du |
| PHY 517, Astronomical Techniques (3) | MW 3:30-6:20 | Birrer | von der Linden | Birrer |
| PHY 521, Stars (3) | Zingale | N/A | ||
| PHY 523, Galaxies (3) | N/A | von der Linden | ||
| PHY 540, Statistical Mechanics (3) | TR 9:30-10:50 | Shrock | Allison | Allison |
| PHY 554, Fundamentals of Accelerator Physics (1-3) | MW 6:30-7:50 | Jing | Litvinenko | Jing |
| PHY 555, Solid State I (3) | MW 9:30-10:50 | Goldbart | Fernandez-Serra | Fernandez-Serra |
| PHY 558, Physical Biology (3) | MWF 11:00-11:55 | Balazsi | Balaszi | Balaszi |
| PHY 560, Frontiers of Physics and Astrophysics (0-3) | MW 11:00-12:20 | Barish | N/A | Barish |
| PHY 562, Lasers and Modern Optics (1-3) | TR 11:00-12:20 | Weinacht | Weinacht | Metcalf |
| PHY 564, Advanced Accelerator Physics (1-3) | N/A | Litvinenko | ||
| PHY 568, Quantum Information Science | MW 2:00-3:20 | Tantivasadakarn, Wei | Wei | Wei |
| PHY 582, Optics Rotation (2) | TR 8:00-9:20 | Metcalf | Metcalf | Metcalf |
| PHY 584, Lab Rotations in Physical Biology (3) | By arrangement | Dill | Dill | Dill |
| PHY 598, Graduate Seminar I (Atomic and Solid State) (1) | M 5:00-6:20 | Du, Goldbart, Metcalf | Blackwell, Metcalf, Dreyer | Blackwell, Perez Rios, Dreyer |
| PHY 599, Graduate Seminar II (Nuclear, Particle, Astronomy) (1) | R 3:30-4:50 | Corliss, Piacquadio, Miranda | Kharzeev, Walter, Xin-Qian | Bernauer, Walter, Qian |
| PHY 604, Computational Methods II (3) | Dreyer | N/A | ||
| PHY 611, Quantum Field Theory II (3) | MW 2:00-3:20 | Meade | Meade | Meade |
| PHY 612, Theoretical Particle Physics (1-3) | TR 2:00-3:20 | Essig | Sterman | Essig |
| PHY 620, Modern General Relativity (3) | MW 11:00-12:20 | Sehgal | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 622, 623, String Theory I, II (1-3) | MW 9:30-10:50 | Rocek, van Nieuwenhuizen | Rocek, van Nieuwenhuizen | van Nieuwenhuizen, Rocek, Shao |
| PHY 655, Advanced Graduate Seminar (1) | F 2:00-4:50 | Rocek | Rocek | N/A |
| PHY 665 / AMS 532, Journal Club in Computational Biology (1) | W 11:00-11:55 | Rizzo | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 670, Theoretical Physics Seminar (0-1) | R 3:30-6:20 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 672, Elementary Particles Seminar (0-1) | M 12:30-1:50 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 674, Nuclear Physics Seminar (0-1) | R 3:30-4:50 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 676, Solid State Physics Seminar (0-1) | F 2:00-4:50 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 678, AMO Seminar (0-1) | M 3:30-4:50 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 680, Topics in Theoretical Physics-Group Theory (1-3) | Group Theory, van Nieuwenhuizen | N/A | ||
| PHY 680, Topics in Theoretical Physics-Non-Perturbative Advanced QFT (1-3) | TR 11:00-12:20 | Rastelli | Rastelli | Rastelli |
| PHY 680, Quantum Hall and Chern Simons Theory, Yin Chen (1-3) | Yin Chen | N/A | ||
| PHY 680, Supersym and Supergravity, van Nieuwenhuizen (1-3) | N/A | van Nieuwenhuizen | ||
| PHY 688, Topics in Astrophysics (1-3) | N/A | Dark Universe, Sehgal | ||
| PHY 689, Topics in Accelerator Physics (1-3) | R 6:30-9:20 | Kayran | N/A | Litvinenko |
| PHY 693, High Power RF Engineering | TR 3:30-4:50 | Parekh | N/A | Parekh |
| PHY 695, Cryogenic Systems | Litvinenko, Klebaner | N/A | ||
| PHY 698, Colloquium (0-1) | T 3:30-6:20 | TBA | N/A | N/A |
Spring Offerings
Spring 2027 is tentative and instructors are still being finalized for many courses; the remaining columns are a historical record to help gauge what’s likely to run.
| Course (Credits) | Spring 2027 | Spring 2026 | Spring 2025 | Spring 2024 |
| PHY 504, Computational Methods and High Performance Computing (3) | Calder | Miranda | Miranda | Zingale |
| PHY 505, Classical Electrodynamics (3) | TBA | Goldbart | Goldbart | Goldbart |
| PHY 505, Classical Electrodynamics, Recitation | TBA | Goldbart, Teaney | Goldbart | Goldbart |
| PHY 512, Quantum Mechanics II (3) | TBA | Abanov | Abanov | Zahed |
| PHY 515, Methods of Experimental Research (3) | TBA | Dao, Drees, Du, Liu, Kumar | Arnold, Bernauer, Corliss, Du, Kumar | Du, Liu, Wijesekara, Arnold |
| PHY 517, Astronomical Techniques (3) | von der Linden | Birrer | von der Linden | Birrer |
| PHY 522, Interstellar medium (3) | Armitage | N/A | Armitage | N/A |
| PHY 524, Cosmology (3) | Sehgal | N/A | Sehgal | |
| PHY 541, Advanced Statistical Mechanics (1-3) | TBA | Shrock | Shrock | Shrock |
| PHY 542, Accelerator Physics Lab (1-2) | TBA | Fedurin, Kayran | Fedurin, Kayran | Fedurin, Kayran |
| PHY 543, RF Superconductivity (3) | TBA | N/A | Belomestnykh | N/A |
| PHY 546, Python (1) | Zingale | Zingale | Zingale | Zingale |
| PHY 551, Nuclear Physics I (3) | TBA | Kharzeev | Kharzeev | Kharzeev |
| PHY 556, Solid State Physics II (1-3) | Fernandez-Serra | Fernandez-Serra | N/A | |
| PHY 557, Elementary Particle Physics (3) | TBA | Piacquadio | Gonzalez Garcia | Gonzalez Garcia |
| PHY 559, Biological Dynamics and Networks (3) | Green | Green | Green | MacCarthy |
| PHY 561, Biology for Physical Scientist (1) | TBA | N/A | Futcher, Green | Futcher, Green |
| PHY 564, Advanced Accelerator Physics (1-3) | Litvinenko | N/A | N/A | |
| PHY 565, Quantum Electronics I (3) | N/A | N/A | Schneble | |
| PHY 566, Quantum Electronics II (1-3) | TBA | Weinacht | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 567, Theoretical Chemical Physics (3) | TBA | Levine | Levine | Levine |
| PHY 582, Optics Rotation (2) | TBA | Metcalf | Weinacht | N/A |
| PHY 584, Lab Rotations in Physical Biology (3) | Dill | Dill | Dill | Dill |
| PHY 598, Graduate Seminar I (Atomic and Solid State) (1) | TBA | Blackwell, Metcalf, Dreyer | Blackwell, Metcalf, Dreyer | Li, Vafei-Najafabadi, Metcalf |
| PHY 599, Graduate Seminar II (Nuclear, Particle, Astronomy) (1) | TBA | Miranda, Syritsyn, Hobbs | Hobbs, Syritsyn, Walter | Bernauer, Worcester, Lanzetta |
| PHY 605, Quantum Programming (1-3) | TBA | Wei and Tantivasadakarn | Wei | Wei |
| PHY 610, Quantum Field Theory I (3) | TBA | Zamolodchikov | Zamolodchikov | Zamolodchikov |
| PHY 613, Advanced Particle Theory (1-3) | TBA | Essig, Shrock, Sterman, Meade | Essig, Shrock, Sterman, Meade | Essig, Shrock, Sterman, Meade |
| PHY 620, Modern General Relativity (3) | N/A | Sehgal | N/A | |
| PHY 622, 623, String Theory I, II (1-3) | TBA | Rocek | Rocek, Saxena | van Nieuwenhuizen, Rocek, Shao |
| PHY 631, Quantum Information Systems | TBA | Li | Li | Li |
| PHY 655, Advanced Graduate Seminar (1) | TBA | Rocek | Rocek | Rocek |
| PHY 664, Astronomy Journal Club (0-1) | TBA | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 670, Theoretical Physics Seminar (0-1) | TBA | Meade, Wei, Essig | Meade | N/A |
| PHY 672, Elementary Particles Seminar (0-1) | TBA | Dao, Worcester | McGrew | N/A |
| PHY 673, Seminar in Cosmology (0-1) | TBA | Sehgal | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 674, Nuclear Physics Seminar (0-1) | TBA | N/A | Teaney | N/A |
| PHY 676, Solid State Physics Seminar (0-1) | TBA | Cano | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 678, AMO Seminar (0-1) | TBA | Schneble | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 680, Topology in Many-Body/QFT, Komargodski (1-3) | TBA | Komargodski | N/A | N/A |
| PHY 688, Topics in Astrophysics (1-3) | Dark Universe, Sehgal | N/A | Gravitational Lensing, Birrer | Astrophysical Fluids and Plasma, Armitage |
| PHY 689, Topics in Accelerator Physics (1-3) | TBA | Litvinenko | Litvinenko | Litvinenko |
| PHY 691, Computational Accelerator Physics | N/A | N/A | Meot | |
| PHY 694, Plasma and Wakefield Accelerators | Vafaei-Najafabadi | N/A | Vafaei-Najafabadi | |
| PHY 698, Colloquium (0-1) | Essig | N/A | Essig | N/A |
Astronomy Core Course Sequence
The four core astronomy courses – Stars (PHY 521), Interstellar Medium (PHY 522), Galaxies (PHY 523), and Cosmology (PHY 524) – rotate on a four-semester cycle, one course per semester, so each is offered only once every two years. Because the tables above only show recent offerings, an individual course may not appear in them in a given year even though it remains part of the regular rotation.
Students completing the Astronomy Concentration satisfy their breadth requirement by taking three of these four courses plus Modern General Relativity (PHY 620) – that is, any three of the five. Unlike the other four, PHY 620 is offered every year rather than rotating on the two-year cycle. Astronomy students are strongly encouraged to take each core course when it comes up rather than postponing it, since missing an offering means waiting a full two-year cycle for it to come back around.