Subject: Spring 2008 Breadth Courses From: Laszlo Mihaly Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:57:22 -0500 To: "pagra-l@lists.sunysb.edu" Here are a few words about courses in the Spring 2008 semester. Also, after reading the rest of the mail, please respond to this informal poll: ** Do you intend to take PHY 540 in the Fall 2008 Semester? Please answer YES or NO or PERHAPS. ** SPECIAL NOTE TO ADVANCED STUDENTS: I ask you to come to the Physics Department Colloquium as often as you can; I also ask you to register to it for 1 credit. Also register to the research group seminar you are interested in. If you do not take any other classes, a typical registration should have 1 credit for PHY 698, 1 credit for (PHY 664 to 678) and 7 credit for Thesis Research. FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS: PHY 506 and 512 are recommended for first year students. Students who took PHY 501 in the Fall will probably want to register for PHY 540 in the Spring. If you took PHY 501, 505 and 511, and you feel that three hard graduate courses are too much for you, feel free to talk to your advisor or to me. If you had PHY 598, register to 599 as the second semester of graduate seminars, or vice versa. BREADTH COURSES: PHY 521, 551, 556, 565, 612, 680.1 and 680.2 are potential breadth courses. Consult the table in http://graduate.physics.sunysb.edu/ for information about the acceptance of breadth courses. PHY 680.1 (Quantum Computing) and PHY 680.2 (Biological Physics) are not listed in the table, but they will be accepted as breadth courses to practically all students, except those doing Ph.D. closely related to quantum computing or biological physics. Talk to me if you have any doubt. PHY 556 (Solid State Physics II) is accepted only if you did not have PHY 555 as a breadth course. Courses offered by other Departments may be accepted as a breadth courses, but should be cleared with me before registering. GENERAL REMARKS: Note that the first part of the Nuclear Physics sequence (PHY 551) is offered in the Spring; if you miss it now, you will have to wait a year. Students interested in astronomy should take PHY 521 now. I'd like to know your plans concerning PHY 540 (see question above), because we want to decide if we need to offer this course in the Fall and Spring as well. Look at the Graduate Bulletin, or at the course descriptions of old courses (or at the new ones, as they become available) at http://graduate.physics.sunysb.edu/Physics_Courses.html for more about the content of the courses. Please consult your advisor or me if you think you need to take one or more of PHY 570, 576, 578. These courses do not satisfy any departmental requirements towards the Ph.D. Note that many courses can be taken for zero (or reduced) credit. This is an option offered to G5 students, who are limited to a total of 9 credits in their registration. Do not register for zero credit except if it is absolutely necessary. In either case you are supposed to do the same work in the course, independent of the amount of credits you are registered for. Best, Laszlo -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Laszlo Mihaly Graduate Program Director Department of Physics and Astronomy Stony Brook University 631 632-8279 laszlo.mihaly@sunysb.edu ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^