The Honours Physics Academic Plan is in the form of a core of required courses, plus appropriate electives. The electives available in all years allow students to strengthen complementary areas of interest whether in some specific field in Physics or in some other subject area. Some examples are described below under the heading "Elective Choices."
Continuation in Honours Physics requires a cumulative overall average of 60% and a 60% Physics average each year. In addition, students must have an average of at least 65% in the lecture courses PHYS 121/122, MATH 114, and MATH 127/128 (or equivalents) in order to be admitted to Year Two.
In order to graduate with an Honours Physics degree, the following requirements must be met:
- Successful completion of 19.0 lecture units plus 2.5 Physics lab units.
- Mandatory (core) courses as listed below.
- No more than 3.0 "SCI-labelled" units can be used.
- Completion of the English Language Proficiency Examination (ELPE).
Year One
Fall
CHEM 120/120L+ Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter/Laboratory
MATH 114 Linear Algebra for Science
MATH 127 Calculus 1 for the Sciences
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 121/131L Mechanics and Waves 1/Laboratory
One elective (0.5 unit)
Winter
CHEM 123/123L+ Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Laboratory
MATH 128 Calculus 2 for the Sciences
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 122 Mechanics and Waves 2
PHYS 132L Mechanics, Waves and Measurement Laboratory
PHYS 139 Scientific Computer Programming
One elective (0.5 unit)
Year Two
Fall
MATH 227 Calculus 3 for Honours Physics
MATH 228 Differential Equations For Physics and Chemistry
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 232L Measurement Laboratory
PHYS 234 Quantum Physics 1
PHYS 241Electricity and Magnetism and
PHYS 260A Intermediate Physics Laboratory 1
One elective (0.5 unit)
Winter
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 256 Geometrical and Physical Optics and
PHYS 260B Intermediate Physics Laboratory 2
PHYS 260C Intermediate Physics Laboratory 3
PHYS 258 Thermal Physics
PHYS 263 Classical Mechanics and Special Relativity
Two electives (1.0 unit)
Year Three
Fall
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 334 Quantum Physics 2
PHYS 360A Modern Physics Laboratory 1
PHYS 363 Intermediate Classical Mechanics
PHYS 364 Mathematical Physics 1
One elective (0.5 unit)
One elective 300 or 400-level Physics lab (0.25 unit)*
Winter
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 335 Condensed Matter Physics
PHYS 359 Statistical Mechanics
PHYS 365 Mathematical Physics 2
One elective (0.5 unit)
One elective 300 or 400-level Physics lab (0.25 unit)*
Year Four
Students in Year Four should normally take a total of 5.0 units, which must include the following: PHYS 10, PHYS 434, PHYS 441A, PHYS 441B and an additional 1.0 unit of Physics electives.
Notes to all Honours Physics Students
Students intending to continue to Graduate School: If you are planning to undertake graduate work after completing your undergraduate degree program you may wish to choose electives that will give you the desired background for your choice of graduate program and school. Examples of recommended electives include the following:
- for graduate work in Physics: PHYS 437A and PHYS 454
- for graduate work in Experimental Physics: PHYS 352, PHYS 353
- for graduate work in Theoretical Physics: electives listed under (1), PHYS 444 and PHYS 475
- for graduate work in Biophysics: PHYS 437A, PHYS 280, PHYS 380, one or both of PHYS 480 and PHYS 482
Students intending to do graduate work in Biophysics, Astrophysics, Condensed Matter, Quantum Computing, Optics or other areas should note this list is not exhaustive and elective course selection depends on the graduate program you plan to pursue. You may wish to consult with an undergraduate advisor and our graduate officer regarding other electives needed for your choice of graduate program.
+Year-One Chemistry may be replaced by Year-One Biology or Earth Sciences courses. Note that all students in Year-One Science are required to have units from at least two different disciplines from the Faculty of Science (see "Academic Plan and Course Selections").
* May both be taken in the same term of Year Three, or completed during Year Four.
Elective Choices
The "core plus electives" structure of the Honours Physics and Honours Co-operative Physics Academic Plans allows a great variety of combinations of courses to be taken. By judicious selection of elective courses, students can deepen their knowledge of theoretical or experimental physics, or emphasize particular aspects of the subject, for example optics, condensed matter physics, astrophysics or biophysics. It is also possible (subject to timetable restrictions) for physics students to use their elective courses to gain expertise in other subjects, for example business administration, computing, electrical engineering or philosophy. The departmental Undergraduate Advisors are available to assist any student who wishes to select a particular set of elective choices.