Course Descriptions

Further develops the theory and analysis of electric and magnetic fields and circuits beyond the level of the prerequisite courses. Fundamental topics include electrostatics, magnetostatics, electromagnetic force, Faraday's and Lenz's Laws, capacitance and inductance. Circuit topics include transient RC and RL circuits, a.c. sources, impedance, phasors, a.c. network analysis, ferromagnetism and magnetic circuits, basic transformers, and linear motors and generators. Students are expected to have facility with using complex numbers but not vector calculus.

Restriction(s): Restricted to students in the Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Geophysics programs.
Prerequisite(s):MATH 123.3, MATH 133.4, MATH 110.3, or MATH 176.3; and MATH 124.3, MATH 134.3, MATH 116.3, or MATH 177.3; and PHYS 155.3, PHYS 156.3, or PHYS 115.3.
Note: Formerly EE 202. Students with credit for EE 201 or EE 202 or EP 229 will not receive credit for this course.

Introduces the mathematical techniques for determining the behavior of analog systems. Topics include complex numbers and functions, first and second order differential equations for modeling electrical and mechanical systems, the Laplace transform, solutions for initial conditions, solutions for a step input, general transient response, the frequency response, Bode plots, s-plane analysis and stability, one and two pole filters, the Fourier transform.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 2 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): EP 202.3 or GE 153.3.
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): MATH 224.3 or MATH 226.3 or MATH 238.3.
Note: Students who have credit for EE 214 may not take this course for credit.

The emphasis is to investigate the practical engineering and scientific applications of mathematical techniques that were introduced in other classes. This goal is realized through the design and development of software systems to solve problems related to: electric circuit analysis; numerical differentiation, integration and interpolation of real world measurements; modelling of physical systems and Fourier decomposition. In the laboratory students write their own software to solve problems that are introduced in the formal lectures.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 4 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): CMPT 116 or CMPT 145 or CMPT 146; and GE 125 or GE 123 or PHYS 117 or PHYS 125.
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): MATH 224 or MATH 226 or MATH 238.

A laboratory course which explores the foundations of quantum physics through laboratory experiments. The experimental observations provide evidence for the quantization of energy levels and wave-particle duality. Students will also learn how to measure the charge of an electron. There will be five experiments and students will need 1.5 hours per experiment. For each experiment there will also be a 1 hour lecture.

Weekly hours: 0.4 Lecture hours and 0.6 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): PHYS 252
Note: Students with credit for PHYS 251 or PHYS 253 may not take this course for credit.

Calorimetry, thermal expansion, heat transfer and the empirical gas laws. Kinetic theory of gases: specific heats, Boltzmann distribution. Mean free path and transport phenomena. Zeroth, first and second laws of thermodynamics. Entropy and heat engines.

Prerequisite(s): PHYS 252.3
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): MATH 224.3 or MATH 226.3 or MATH 238.3
Note: Students with credit for EP 370 will not receive credit for this course. This course was labeled EP 370 from 2014 to 2022.

Introduction to atomic structure, bonding, types of solids, crystalline states, and types of crystals. Solid solutions. Mechanical properties of strain and thermal expansion. Thermal fluctuations, noise and thermally activated processes. Heat capacity of solids. Electrical conductivity of pure metals and solid solutions. Temperature dependence. Hall effect. Energy band structure in solids. Semiconductors. Classical and Fermi-Dirac statistics. Conduction in metals. Contact potential. Seebeck effect, thermocouple. Thermionic emission and vacuum tube devices. Phonons. Debye heat capacity and heat conductivity. Extrinsic, p- and n- semiconductors. Conductivity and temperature dependence. Optical absorption. Luminescence. Shottky diode. Ohmic contact and thermoelectric effect.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): PHYS 381 or PHYS 383.

A thorough treatment of discrete time, linear systems both in the time domain and the frequency domain. The discrete convolution, feedback systems, the z-transform, the frequency response and the discrete Fourier transform and signal modulation are covered in detail, along with design and application of finite and infinite impulse response filters. The course includes an introduction to control system theory, in both the time and frequency domains, for analog and digital systems. Strong emphasis is placed on problem solving through development of Matlab code to solve physical problems.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 4 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): (EP 202 or EP 229) and EP 214 and EP 228 and MATH 224.

This class provides the foundation of geometrical optics for the understanding of complex optics in optical instruments. Topics include image formation, curved optical surfaces, thin and thick lenses, cardinal points and Gaussian optics, apertures, paraxial ray tracing, matrix methods and third-order aberrations. Classical instrumentation design is studied including Newtonian and Cassegrain telescopes, astronomical cameras and compound systems. The class considers ray tracing methods with software packages and techniques for design with realistic computationally difficult problems. Introduction to light interference and diffraction is given.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 4 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): EP 202 or PHYS 230.
Note: Students with credit for EP 225 will not receive credit for this course. First offered in 2013-2014.

This laboratory course focuses on experiments to observe and measure radioactivity. Students will learn to work with Geiger-Muller counters, Gamma spectrometers and Beta spectrometers. They will also measure properties of radioactive elements and beams. There will be five experiments and students will need 3 hours per experiment. For each experiment there will also be a 2 hour lecture.

Weekly hours: 0.8 Lecture hours and 1.2 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): PHYS 352, PHYS 255, or PHYS 383
Note: Students with credit for PHYS 381 or PHYS 353 may not take this course for credit. To facilitate registration, students must register for the prerequisite course prior to registering for EP 353, even if the two courses will be taken in the same term.

Students learn in this laboratory course to observe and measure nuclear and electron magnetic resonances. Further experiments demonstrate quantum behavior in solids, e.g. semiconductivity or magnetism. There will be five experiments and students will need 3 hours per experiment. For each experiment there will also be a 2 hour lecture.

Weekly hours: 0.8 Lecture hours and 1.2 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): PHYS 383
Note: Students with credit for PHYS 381 or PHYS 354 may not take this course for credit. To facilitate registration, students must register for the prerequisite course prior to registering for EP 354, even if the two courses will be taken in the same term.

A course in electronic instrumentation and in design of measuring equipment. Emphasis is placed on digital techniques for the measurement of physical parameters.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 4 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): EE 321.3; and CMPT 116.3 or CMPT 146.3.

This course provides students with a fundamental understanding of physical properties of solid state materials and their device applications. Topics include semiconductors, quantum effects in transistors, magnetic materials and their applications, surface kinetics, thin films and interfaces, and thin film fabrication.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): EP 317, PHYS 356 and PHYS 383.
Note: First offered in 2014-2015.

An advanced course in physical optics. Refractive index materials: gases, dielectrics (especially glasses), metals, and plasmas. Dispersion. Polarization of electromagnetic waves. Stokes parameters, the Poincaré sphere, and the Jones matrix calculus. Crystal optics: anisotropy of the refractive index. Birefringent materials. Quarter-wave plates, half-wave plates, and polaroid sheets. Interference of light: two-source interference in the coherent and partially coherent cases. N-source interference applied to diffraction gratings. Grating resolving power. Fiber optics. Laser physics and applications.

Prerequisite(s): EP 325 and PHYS 356.

This course introduces students to practical engineering physics problems that cannot be solved analytically and the numerical approaches and computational techniques used to estimate their solutions. Problems will typically be taken from mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and solid state physics with examples such as n-body orbits, fields in complicated boundaries, electronic structures of atoms, thermal profile of a nuclear waste rod, and non-linear chaotic systems. The computational techniques introduced to solve these problems include Runge-Kutta methods, spectral analysis, relaxation and finite element methods, and Monte Carlo simulations. A brief introduction to the issues of using high performance computing and parallel computing techniques is also included.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): EP 320, PHYS 223, PHYS 356, and PHYS 383
Note: Students may have credit for only one of PHYS 828 or EP 428.

This course takes the students through the entire process of designing and implementing a real space based mission. Space based missions include satellites, rockets, and balloons. Emphasis is placed on satellite missions and the design of subsystems to meet mission requirements and specifications. Also included is a detailed discussion of orbital mechanics, spacecraft attitude and pointing, spacecraft propulsion and the launch vehicles required to place the spacecraft into the desired orbit.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours
Permission of the Department.
Prerequisite(s): 12 credit units 300-level engineering or PHYS courses (from any combination of the following: 300-level CHE, CE, CME, EE, EP, ENVE, GEOE, ME, PHYS courses).

This is a year-long design project incorporating all the steps and procedures used by professional engineers.

Weekly hours: 1.5 Lecture hours and 3 Practicum/Lab hours
Prerequisite(s): EP 317.
Prerequisite(s) or Corequisite(s): EP 413 and EP 421.

Offered occasionally to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.

Weekly hours: 3 Lecture hours and 1.5 Practicum/Lab hours

Offered occasionally in special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Offered occasionally in special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.

Students writing a Master's thesis in Engineering Physics must register for this course.

Students writing a Ph.D. thesis in Engineering Physics must register for this course.