5.11 Department of Physics and Astronomy

Head: Kumar Sharma
General office: 301 Allen Building
Telephone: 204 474 9817
Websites: physics.umanitoba.ca
Email: physics@umanitoba.ca

5.11.1 Academic Staff

5.11.2 Program Information
Physics is the discipline that by experiment and logical analysis examines the laws of nature that form the basis for all relationships and interactions between matter and energy. Knowledge of physics is also essential in other natural sciences, such as chemistry and geology, and to professions such as engineering, medicine and dentistry. Astronomy, the other focus of this department, examines the universe, the earth and the planets, as well as phenomena such as quasars, pulsars, comets, and asteroids; a planetarium and an astronomical observatory are part of this program. In both Physics and Astronomy mathematical skills are developed simultaneously.

The department must approve a student's Honour or Major program each session. Students must also obtain approval for any and all revisions to their program.

Honours
To enter the Honours program in Physics and Astronomy, a student must have a "B" in PHYS 1050 and PHYS 1070 , or a "B+" in PHYS 1020 and a "B" in PHYS 1070 , standing in MATH 1500 , a "B" in MATH 1700 and a "B" in MATH 1300 or any equivalents. In addition, a student must satisfy the faculty requirements for entry to the Honours program.

To continue in the Honours program, i.e., to proceed from Year 2 to Year 3 and Year 3 to Year 4, students must achieve a minimum DGPA of 3.00 and a grade of "C" in all Honours Physics and Astronomy courses which are either required in the program or required as prerequisites to other Physics and Astronomy courses taken in the Honours program.

To graduate with the B. Sc. Honours degree, a student must achieve a minimum DGPA of 3.00 and minimum grade of "C" in each course that contributes to the 120 credit hours of the degree.

There are a number of awards - the Coish, the C.P. Loewen, the Neamtan, the Roulston, and the Sen Scholarships - available in this program.

Joint Honours
The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers joint honours programs in conjunction with the Departments of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Chemistry.

To enter the Joint Honours Mathematics-Physics program the student must have a minimum grade of "B" in MATH 1300 , MATH 1510 and MATH 1710 (or MATH 1690), PHYS 1050 (or "B+" in PHYS 1020 ) and PHYS 1070 .

To enter the Joint Honours Computer Science-Physics program, the student must have a minimum grade of "B" in PHYS 1050 (or "B+" in PHYS 1020 ), PHYS 1070 , MATH 1300 , MATH 1500 (or equivalent), MATH 1700 (or equivalent), and COMP 1020.

To enter the Joint Honours Chemistry-Physics program, the student must have a minimum grade of "B" in PHYS 1050 (or "B+" in PHYS 1020 ), PHYS 1070 , CHEM 1310, MATH 1500 and MATH 1700 .

Double Honours
The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers a double honours degree in conjunction with the Biochemistry program.

Four Year Major
The goal of this program is to provide an excellent physics education for a student with broad interests. It provides more control over the degree program, permitting significantly more electives and scheduling flexibility.

To enter the four year Major program in Physics and Astronomy, a student must have PHYS 1050 (C+) or PHYS 1020 (B), and PHYS 1070 (C+), MATH 1500 ³ and MATH 1700 ³ with a minimum grade of "C" and an average of "C+" on these two courses. In addition, students must have satisfied the faculty requirements for entry to the four year Major program.

Three Year General
As prescribed with all other faculty regulations in Section 3.2, students in this program must select 36 credit hours of 2000 and (or) 3000 level courses from two Science departments. To satisfy the requirement in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, students must select a minimum of 18 credit hours from the list in the below chart.

Variations in any of the programs listed above may be possible, but must be approved by the head of the department and the Science general office.

5.11.3 Physics and Astronomy

University 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4
HONOURS Option A: Astronomy1 120 CREDIT HOURS (comprising courses listed in chart below, and electives)
PHYS 1050 (B) (or PHYS 1020 (B+)) and PHYS 1070 2, MATH 1300 , MATH 1500 , MATH 1700 6 credit hours of ARTS including the "W" requirement. 9 credit hours of open electives (PHYS 1810 and PHYS 1820 are highly recommended for this program).	PHYS 2070 (6), PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2390 , PHYS 2490 , PHYS 2600 , PHYS 2610 , PHYS 2650 3 credit hours of open electives4.	PHYS 3180 , PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3430 (6), PHYS 3630 , PHYS 3650 , PHYS 3670 , plus 6 additional credit hours of 3000 Level Physics and Astronomy courses 3 credit hours of open electives4.	PHYS 3680 , PHYS 3640 , PHYS 4230, PHYS 4240 (6), PHYS 4390 , MATH 3130, plus 6 additional credit hours of 4000 level Physics and Astronomy courses 3 credit hours of open electives4.
HONOURS Option B: Physics1 120 CREDIT HOURS (comprising courses listed in chart below, and electives)
PHYS 1050 (B) (or PHYS 1020 B+), PHYS 1070 2, MATH 1300 , MATH 1500 , MATH 1700 6 credit hours of ARTS including the "W" requirement. 9 credit hours of open electives	PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2390 , PHYS 2490 , PHYS 2600 , PHYS 2610 , PHYS 2650 9 credit hours of open electives4	PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3430 (6), PHYS 3650 , PHYS 3670 , PHYS 3680 , PHYS 3630 , PHYS 3640 , PHYS 3660 Plus 3 credit hours of open electives4	PHYS 4250 , PHYS 4390 , PHYS 4510 , PHYS 4520 , PHYS 4672 , PHYS 4674 , PHYS 4590 , PHYS 4600 , PHYS 4620 , MATH 3130
HONOURS Option C: Medical and Biological1 120 CREDIT HOURS (comprising courses listed in chart below, and electives)
PHYS 1050 (B) (or PHYS 1020 B+), PHYS 1070 2, MATH 1300 , MATH 1500 , MATH 1700 BIOL 1410 (ZOOL 1320), BIOL 1412 (ZOOL 1330) 6 credit hours of ARTS including the "W" requirement5 3 credit hours of open electives5 9 credit hours of open electives (PHYS 1810 and PHYS 1820 are highly recommended for this program).	PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2390 , PHYS 2490 , PHYS 2600 , PHYS 2610 , PHYS 2650 , 9 credit hours of open electives.4 BIOL 2520 (ZOOL 2280) is recommended as an elective in this program5	PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3430 (6),PHYS 3650 , PHYS 3670 , PHYS 3680 , PHYS 3630 , PHYS 3640 , PHYS 3220 Plus 3 credit hours of open electives4	PHYS 4250 , PHYS 4560 , PHYS 4672 , PHYS 4674 , PHYS 4360 , PHYS 4400 , ECE 3780, MATH 3130 Plus 6 credit hours of open electives4
30 hours	30 hours	30 hours	30 hours
Four Year Major7,9     120 CREDIT HOURS (comprising courses listed in chart below, and electives)
PHYS 1050 (C+) (or PHYS 1020 B), PHYS 1070 2 (C+), MATH 1300 , MATH 1500 , MATH 1700 Plus 6 credit hours from the Faculty of Arts, which should include the required "W" course Plus 9 credit hours of open electives.	PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2390 , PHYS 2490 , PHYS 2600 , MATH 1200 lus 12 credit hours of open electives4	PHYS 2610 , PHYS 2650 , PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3670 , PHYS 3680 , plus an additional 3 credit hours of 3000 level Physics and Astronomy. Plus 12 credit hours of open electives4.	PHYS 3630 , PHYS 3640 , PHYS 3430 (6), PHYS 3650 , MATH 3130, plus an additional 3 hours of 4000 level Physics and Astronomy. Plus 9 credit hours of open electives4.
Three Year General
	A minimum of 18 credit hours must be chosen from this list: PHYS 2070 , PHYS 2200 , PHYS 2250 , PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2270 , PHYS 2280 , PHYS 2350 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2700 , PHYS 2710 , PHYS 3180 , PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3800 , PHYS 4230. (Subject to the Faculty requirement that of the 36 hours of advanced level courses, at least 6 credit hours must be chosen from the 3000 and (or) 4000 level.)
Minor
PHYS 1050 (C) and PHYS 1070 (C) (or PHYS 1020 (C+) and PHYS 1030 (C+))	A minimum of 12 credit hours from PHYS 2070 , PHYS 2200 , PHYS 2250 , PHYS 2260 , PHYS 2270 , PHYS 2280 , PHYS 2350 , PHYS 2380 , PHYS 2700 , PHYS 2710 , PHYS 3180 , PHYS 3380 , PHYS 3800 .
NOTES: 1 Students must achieve a minimum grade of "C" in all Honours Physics and Astronomy courses that are either required in the program or required as prerequisites to other Physics and Astronomy courses taken in the Honours program. 2 PHYS 1030 is not suitable for entry to the Honours and four year Major program. Students must also take PHYS 1070 if they have already taken PHYS 1030 . Students can hold credit for both PHYS 1030 and PHYS 1070 . 3 MATH 1310 may be taken in place of MATH 1300 ; MATH 1510 or MATH 1520 may be taken in place of MATH 1500 ; MATH 1710 may be taken in place of MATH 1700 ; MATH 1690 may be taken in place of MATH 1500 and MATH 1700 . MATH 2750 may be taken as a recommended course in lieu of MATH 2720 and MATH 2730 . 4 Although they are not required courses in the Physics programs, MATH 2720 , MATH 2730 , MATH 2800 , and MATH 3700 are highly recommended electives for the Physics Honours and Four Year Major degrees, and should be taken when possible. 5 BIOL 2520 (ZOOL 2280) is a recommended course in Physics Honours - Option C: Medical and Biological. If a student plans to take BIOL 2520 (ZOOL 2280), BIOL 1020 and BIOL 1030 should be taken in year one of the program as prerequisites. This will push either the "W" course or the ARTS elective from year one, to year two or three. IMPORTANT: The four year Major program need not be completed in the manner prescribed in the chart above. The chart indicates the recommended arrangement of the required courses and is meant to be a guide around which students can plan their program (Letters in brackets refer to minimum prerequisite standing required for further study.)