Note: admission, including internal or external transfer, to the Theoretical Physics major has been suspended. For more information, please contact the Department of Physics, College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences.

Department of Physics, College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences

Students may enter this major in Semester 1 or any semester thereafter. A student wishing to declare the major may wish to consult the Faculty Advisor. Since some of the required courses are not offered every semester, students entering the Major in Theoretical Physics should plan their program in consultation with the Faculty Advisor.

Note: admission, including internal or external transfer, to the Theoretical Physics major has been suspended. For more information, please contact the Department of Physics, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Major Requirements (Honours)

This is a major within the degree: Bachelor of Science.

This major requires the completion of 20.00 credits. At least 1.00 of these credits must be obtained from the completion of Liberal Education electives.

Students lacking Grade 12 or 4U Biology, Chemistry, or Physics should follow the revised schedule of study for this major found at https://www.uoguelph.ca/bsc/revised_SS/.  

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Semester 1 1
CHEM*1040	General Chemistry I	0.50
CIS*1300	Programming	0.50
MATH*1200	Calculus I	0.50
PHYS*1500	Introductory Mechanics	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
BIOL*1070	Discovering Biodiversity	0.50
BIOL*1080	Biological Concepts of Health	0.50
BIOL*1090	Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology	0.50
Semester 2 1
CHEM*1050	General Chemistry II	0.50
MATH*1160	Linear Algebra I	0.50
MATH*1210	Calculus II	0.50
PHYS*1510	Introductory Electricity & Magnetism	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
BIOL*1070	Discovering Biodiversity	0.50
BIOL*1080	Biological Concepts of Health	0.50
BIOL*1090	Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology	0.50
Semester 3
MATH*2200	Advanced Calculus I	0.50
MATH*2270	Applied Differential Equations	0.50
PHYS*2240	Thermal Physics	0.50
PHYS*2330	Electricity and Magnetism I	0.50
0.50 Liberal Education electives		0.50
Semester 4
MATH*2210	Advanced Calculus II	0.50
PHYS*2180	Experimental Techniques in Physics	0.50
PHYS*2310	Mechanics	0.50
PHYS*2340	Electricity and Magnetism II	0.50
0.50 electives or restricted electives 2,3		0.50
Semester 5
IPS*3000	Science Communication	0.50
PHYS*3130	Mathematical Physics	0.50
PHYS*3230	Quantum Mechanics I	0.50
PHYS*3400	Advanced Mechanics	0.50
0.50 electives or restricted electives 2,3		0.50
Semester 6
NANO*3600	Computational Methods in Materials Science	0.50
PHYS*3000	Optics: Fundamentals and Applications	0.50
PHYS*3510	Intermediate Laboratory	0.50
PHYS*4040	Quantum Mechanics II	0.50
0.50 electives or restricted electives 2,3		0.50
Semester 7
PHYS*4180	Advanced Electromagnetic Theory	0.50
PHYS*4240	Statistical Physics	0.50
1.50 credits electives or restricted electives 2,3		1.50
Semester 8
MATH*3260	Complex Analysis	0.50
PHYS*4130	Subatomic Physics	0.50
PHYS*4150	Solid State Physics	0.50
1.00 credits electives or restricted electives 2,3		1.00

¹

Students who have taken physics courses other than PHYS*1500 Introductory Mechanics or PHYS*1080 Physics for Life Sciences in Semester 1 and PHYS*1510 Introductory Electricity & Magnetism, PHYS*1070 Physics for Life Sciences II or PHYS*1010 Introductory Electricity and Magnetism in Semester 2, may proceed to semester 3 with the permission of the Department of Physics.

²

Students going on to graduate school in physics should take PHYS*4001/PHYS*4002 Research in Physics and PHYS*4500 Advanced Physics Laboratory.

³

Students in this major must complete 1.00 credits in liberal education electives and 2.00 credits from the Restricted Elective list.

Restricted Electives

Students must complete 2.00 credits from the following list:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
CIS*2500	Intermediate Programming	0.50
MATH*2000	Proofs, Sets, and Numbers	0.50
MATH*2130	Numerical Methods	0.50
MATH*3100	Differential Equations II	0.50
MATH*3130	Abstract Algebra	0.50
MATH*3160	Linear Algebra II	0.50
MATH*3200	Real Analysis	0.50
MATH*3240	Operations Analytics I	0.50

Credit Summary

(20.00 Total Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
First year science credits		5.00
Required science courses semesters 3 – 8		10.50
Restricted Electives		2.00
Liberal Education Electives		1.00
Free Electives - any approved elective for B.Sc. students		1.50
Total Credits		20

Of the total credits required, students are required to complete 16.00 credits in science of which 2.00 credits must be at the 4000 level and an additional 4.00 credits must be at the 3000 or 4000 level.