Physics Track

Problem-oriented course intended for science majors; coverage is more in-depth than PHYS 110. Topics include Newtonian mechanics and laboratory methods. Course should be taken with MATH 124 so the elements of calculus and its applications to physics can be treated at the same time. This course comprises of lectures, associated laboratories, and discussion sections.

Corequisites:MATH 120 or MATH 124.

Course Designation/Attribute: SP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every fall.

A problem-oriented course based on electricity and magnetism for science majors. This course includes hands-on activities, computer-rich laboratories, group problem-solving and an interactive environment. This course comprises of lectures, associated laboratories, and discussion sections. Coverage is more in-depth than  PHYS 111.

Corequisites:MATH 121 or MATH 125 .

Course Designation/Attribute: SP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every spring

This course covers the mathematical techniques needed for the study of physics at the intermediate and advanced level. Ordinary differential equations, vector calculus, partial differential equations, matrices, Fourier series, and complex variables.

Prerequisites: MATH 120 or MATH 124 AND MATH 121 or MATH 125. Physics majors are strongly encouraged to take this course during their sophomore year. This is a required course for the Physics major.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every fall

Introduces object oriented programming and methods of computer simulation and its diverse applications. The course is project oriented, with students proceeding at their own pace. Projects include planetary motion, chaotic systems, random systems, complex systems, and thermal systems. Methods include the numerical solution of differential equations, molecular dynamics, and Monte Carlo techniques. Two laboratory sections and two discussion periods per week.

Prerequisites: PHYS 120, MATH 120 or MATH 124, or instructor permission.

Course Designation/Attribute: SP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every year

This course will explore the basic concepts of Information theory – a topic that lies at the heart of many exciting areas of contemporary science and engineering – and its applications to statistical inference and network theory. Topics covered in the course include entropy as a measure of information, mutual information, information transmission and communication through noiseless or noisy channels, maximum likelihood methods for data analysis, and neural network models. The basic concepts developed will be applied to examples from a wide range of academic fields such as data compression and storage, biophysics, signal processing, neuroscience, machine learning, and finance, where information theory can be related to the theory of optimal investment in the stock market. Finally we will discuss how methods from information theory can be used to study and quantify interaction networks, a subject that lies at the heart of the modern science of complex systems.

Prerequisites: MATH 120 or MATH 124 , and MATH 121 or MATH 125

Anticipated Terms Offered: varied

Examines principles of modern electrical measurement and control. Introduces DC- and AC-circuit theory and use of test instruments such as multimeters and the oscilloscope. Emphasizes electronic circuit design, operational amplifiers and digital circuits. Two lectures and one laboratory each week. Suitable for intermediate-level undergraduates and graduate students in the sciences.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Offered every other year

This course is designed to give an overview of the technical issues confronting the conversion of the world’s fossil fuel economy to one where the major sources of energy are sustainable. The pros and cons of major renewable energy sources (such as solar and wind) will be discussed, along with some of the less universal sources such as tides and geothermal, including, of course, efficiency, the hidden energy resource. No discussion of renewables is complete without a good understanding of the electrical grid, which is central to the implementation of renewable energy. The present grid is designed for a smaller number of large generating stations and relatively constant power generation and loads. The renewable grid will have many smaller energy sources, as small as single solar panels on the top of telephone poles, and also rapidly fluctuating sources, as when winds gust through wind turbines, and clouds cover and uncover solar panels. Through lecture and demonstration we will learn how a nationwide energy network might work in the future. This course is designed for science and non-science majors alike, however math skills including algebra and trigonometry will be expected.

Over the past two years a small microgrid consisting of solar panels, a wind turbine, batteries, and LED lights has been built at Clark.  A main focus of this course will be on the design and building of the microgrid, and related projects and issues. This will require significant time, outside class, to work on building the microgrid system. We will be building physical systems, such as mounting solar panels and working to connect electrical systems, in order to control and measure the energy flows in our microgrid. We will need computer programs for controlling the system and to analyze data, and we also will need web pages for our own monitoring and in order to display the system to others. 

There will be a significant hands on component to this class, in addition to regular homework assignments. Each student will be expected to spend about three hours a week during an afternoon, preferably Tuesday or Friday, working on the project. Please consider this time commitment carefully when you sign up for this course.

Course Designation/Attribute: POP

Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall