Course Offerings
The Department offers a wide variety of physics and astronomy courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level of instruction. See the SJSU Academic Catalog for further information. For undergraduates, see also the Department's list of required courses [pdf] (BS vs. BA vs. BA, Preparation for teaching) and undergraduate course map [pdf] (providing a graphical illustration of prominent courses and prerequisites along with typical terms offered).
Undergraduate Courses
- ASTR 10: Descriptive Astronomy
- ASTR 101: Modern Astronomy
- ASTR 117A: Astrophysics I (Typically Fall)
- ASTR 117B: Astrophysics II (Typically Spring)
- ASTR 155: Topics in Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 1: Elementary Physics
- PHYS 2A: Fundamentals of Physics
- PHYS 2B: Fundamentals of Physics
- PHYS 20: Invitation to Physics and Astronomy (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 23: Animation Physics
- PHYS 40: Introduction to Computational Physics (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 49: Introduction to Physics
- PHYS 50: General Physics I: Mechanics
- PHYS 50W: General Physics/Mechanics Workshop
- PHYS 51: General Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism
- PHYS 52: General Physics III: Waves, Light, Heat
- PHYS 100W: Methods of Research and Communication in Physics (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 105A: Advanced Mechanics I (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 105B: Advanced Mechanics II (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 107: Waves and Oscillations (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 110A: Electricity and Magnetism I (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 110B: Electricity and Magnetism II (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 120A: Intermediate Physics Lab: Electronics, Data Acquisition & Analysis (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 120B: Advanced Scientific Measurements Lab (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 120C: Advanced Physics Lab: Optics (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 122: Modern Physics (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 126: Introduction to Nuclear Science (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 130: Mathematical Methods in Physics (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 140: Computational Methods in Physics (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 155: Topics in Physics and Astronomy
- PHYS 158: Modern Optics
- PHYS 160: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics (Typically Spring)
- PHYS 161: Fundamentals of Quantum Information (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 163: Quantum Mechanics (Typically Fall)
- PHYS 168: Lasers
- PHYS 175A: Solid State Physics
- PHYS 180: Individual Studies
- PHYS 184: Directed Reading
Graduate Courses
- PHYS 205: Advanced Dynamics
- PHYS 208: Introduction to Electro-Optics
- PHYS 210: Electromagnetic Theory
- PHYS 220E: Graduate Optics Lab
- PHYS 230: Methods in Mathematical Physics
- PHYS 240: Computational Physics
- PHYS 250: Quantum Programming
- PHYS 253: Quantum Many-Body Physics
- PHYS 255: Advanced Physics
- PHYS 255C: Celestial Mechanics
- PHYS 257: General Relativity
- PHYS 258: Optics
- PHYS 260: Statistical Mechanics
- PHYS 263A: Quantum Theory
- PHYS 268: Laser Spectroscopy
- PHYS 275: Solid State Physics
- PHYS 277: Magnetism and Superconductivity (LEC and LAB)
- PHYS 285: Seminar
- PHYS 297: Directed Research
- PHYS 298: Research
- PHYS 299: Master's Thesis
