Advisors: Professors R. Jayasundera, S. Idziak, J. Sanderson
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. In addition, students must have an average of at least 65% in the lecture courses PHYS 121, PHYS 122, PHYS 124, MATH 114, and MATH 127, MATH 128 (or equivalents) in order to continue into 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 2.25 Physics lab units.
- Mandatory (core) courses as listed below plus an additional 2.5 units of physics electives of which 1.5 units must be 400-level courses (PHYS 437A and 437B may not be counted towards these 1.5 units).
- No more than 3.0 "SCI-labelled" units can be used.
- Completion of the English Language Proficiency requirement.
Legend
+ 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 "Science Academic Plans").
Year One
Fall
CHEM 120/CHEM 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/PHYS 131L Mechanics/Laboratory
One elective (0.5 unit)
Winter
CHEM 123/CHEM 123L+ Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics/Laboratory
MATH 128 Calculus 2 for the Sciences
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 122 Waves, Electricity and Magnetism
PHYS 132L Waves, Electricity, Magnetism and Measurement Laboratory
PHYS 124 Modern Physics
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 236 Computational Physics 1
PHYS 256 Geometrical and Physical Optics
PHYS 256L Optics Laboratory
One elective (0.5 unit)
Winter
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 234 Quantum Physics 1
PHYS 242 Electricity and Magnetism 1
PHYS 242L Electricity and Magnetism Lab
PHYS 260L Intermediate Physics Laboratory
PHYS 263 Classical Mechanics and Special Relativity
Two electives (1.0 unit)
Year Three
Fall
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 342 Electricity and Magnetism 2
PHYS 358 Thermal Physics
PHYS 360A Modern Physics Laboratory 1
PHYS 363 Intermediate Classical Mechanics
PHYS 364 Mathematical Physics 1
One elective (0.5 unit)
Winter
PHYS 10 Physics Seminar
PHYS 334 Quantum Physics 2
PHYS 359 Statistical Mechanics
PHYS 365 Mathematical Physics 2
Two electives (1.0 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 PHYS 10, and 1.5 units of 400-level Physics electives and an additional 1.0 unit of Physics electives.
Note to all Honours Physics Students
Students intending to continue to Graduate School after completing their undergraduate degree program may wish to choose electives that will give them the desired background for their choice of graduate program and school. Examples of recommended electives include the following:
- for graduate work in Physics: PHYS 437A , PHYS 434, PHYS 442 and PHYS 454
- for graduate work in Experimental Physics: PHYS 391, PHYS 392
- for graduate work in Theoretical Physics: PHYS 437A , PHYS 434, PHYS 442, PHYS 444, PHYS 454, and PHYS 475
- for graduate work in Biophysics: PHYS 437A, PHYS 280, PHYS 380, one or both of PHYS 395 and PHYS 396
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 being pursued. Students should consult with an undergraduate advisor and our graduate officer regarding other electives needed for their choice of graduate program.
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.