Subject: Fall 2008 registration From: Laszlo Mihaly Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:15:03 -0400 To: "pagra-l@lists.sunysb.edu" Many of you have already registered for the Fall; the deadline to register to at least one course is at the beginning of the semester. You should be registered to the correct amount of credits by the end of the first week. IMPORTANT: If you want to take a course, please do not plan to audit it, but register. Registration is important, because courses may be canceled if the number of registered students is too low. Please register to the Colloquium, especially if you are an advanced student, doing mostly research. The 0 credit option is an accounting trick to allow you more flexibility in your course selection. Register to 0 credit ONLY if you have no other way to stay within the maximum number of credits allowed by you graduate status. Registering for 0 credit does NOT mean that you have to do less course work. Here are a few notes about course offerings in the Fall; see the complete list at http://graduate.physics.sunysb.edu/Physics_Courses.html. Sacha Abanov is going to teach PHY 503, "Mathematical Physics" again. This is a great course for students who want to learn about complex functions, contour integration, asymptotic methods and a little bit of topology. Hal Metcalf's PHY 514 "Research Instruments" will introduce the students to many experimental groups in the Department. This is a required course to MSI students, but many Ph.D. students may find it useful as well. A large number of students are expected to take PHY 515/516. If you cannot register because the class is full, let me know, and we may be able to open a few more slots. If that is not possible, take the class in the Spring semester. There is a minor change in the course requirements, and PHY 541 "Advanced Statistical Mechanics" will be accepted to satisfy the core requirement, equivalent to PHY 540 "Advanced Statistical Mechanics". From now on PHY 541 is offered in the Fall and PHY 540 is offered in the Spring. Please note that Barry McCoy's PHY 541 is advanced, indeed - if you do not have a solid background in the subject matter, you should wait for PHY 540 in the Spring. Others, especially theory-oriented students who want to learn from the most recognized leader in the field, will greatly benefit from the course. Marivi Fernandez-Serra is teaching PHY 555, "Condensed Matter Physics". Marivi is one of the new faculty in the Department; I am sure her course will be very interesting and well received. Please note the updated version of the breadth course requirements - biological physics and accelerator physics is included. (http://graduate.physics.sunysb.edu/ , scroll down to the first Table). Peter van van Nieuwenhuizen's PHY 680, "Advanced Quantum Field Theory" will be offered MoWe 4:0OPM - 6:00PM, although the Solar listing is different. If you see cannot register to the course because of a time conflict with another course (due to the incorrect Solar times), please let me know, and I will help. Please note that this course is not a breadth course. Anand Sivaramakrishnan and Michal Simon will teach PHY 683, a special topic course in Astronomy. This course is accepted as a breadth course for non-astronomy students. Best, Laszlo -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Laszlo Mihaly Graduate Program Director Department of Physics and Astronomy Stony Brook University 631 632-8279 laszlo.mihaly@sunysb.edu ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^