Undergraduate Program

College of Arts and Sciences and Department of Physics and Astronomy Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A minimum of 26 credit hours; 23 credit hours must be in courses acceptable toward graduation.

A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.00 on all work.

Transfer students must have a 2.00 transfer GPA.
Continuing UNM students must have a 2.00 institutional GPA.

Demonstrated academic achievement by satisfying the following:

Completion of General Education Curriculum: Communication.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Mathematics and Statistics.
Completion of General Education Curriculum: Second Language.

Completion of Department of Physics and Astronomy admission coursework with a grade of "C" or better:

PHYS 1310.

Additional Information

The basic courses PHYS 1310, 1310L, 1320, 1320, 2310, 2310L and MATH 1522, 1522 and 2530 are prerequisite to all 300-level and higher physics and astronomy courses, and are required prerequisites for major and minor study in Physics and in Astrophysics for either the B.S. or the B.A. degree. For the B.S. in Astrophysics, ASTR 2110, 2110L, 2115 and 2115L are also required.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Astrophysics (B.A.)
Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics (B.S.)
Bachelor of Science in Physics (B.S.)
Concentrations: Biophysics; Earth and Planetary Sciences; Optics.

The B.A. in Physics and Astrophysics is designed for people interested in physics, astrophysics and science in general who are not seeking a career in scientific research. Rather, these students should use the flexibility within the program to choose minors or an additional major in other areas, such as management, education, communications, journalism, economics, history, political science, etc.

The B.S. in Physics and the B.S. in Astrophysics are designed to prepare students to attend graduate school in those fields, and are also intended for students seeking careers which do not require graduate study.

Major Study Requirements

First year students planning to major or minor in physics or astrophysics, if they have the necessary mathematics, usually take PHYS 1310, 1310L and MATH 1512 in their first semester, and PHYS 1320, 1320L and MATH 1522 in their second semester. There is some flexibility in these prerequisites.

For admission to any degree program in the department, within the College of Arts and Sciences, in any given semester, it is required that the student have passed PHYS 1310, or a more advanced physics course, with a grade of "C" (not "C-") or higher.

Academic advisement is required each semester for students majoring in physics or astrophysics. Students in University College with an area of interest or a definite major in mind in this department should meet with a departmental advisor as soon as possible, to ensure that they obtain current curriculum and admissions policies as well as specific advice on how to meet the requirements for admission.

Students are not allowed to receive credit for both PHYS 1230 and 1310, nor for both PHYS 1240 and 1320.

Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Astrophysics

Requirements: ASTR 2115, 2115L; PHYS 2415, **330; one course chosen from: PHYS **301, **303, *405, *491; four additional 3 credit hour upper-level courses in Physics or Astronomy, one of which must be in Astronomy and one of which must be a laboratory class, except for any one of the following problems courses: ASTR *455; PHYS *451,* 452.
Required supportive courses: MATH 311, **316.

Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics

Requirements: ASTR *421, 422; PHYS 2415, **301, **303, **304, **330, **366, *405, (*406 or *491); 6 credit hours of Astronomy courses numbered above 399 except for *455 and 456.
Required supportive courses: MATH **316.

No minor is required for the B.S. in Astrophysics, although an optional minor or second major may be selected.

Bachelor of Science in Physics

Requirements: PHYS 2415, **301, **303, **304, **306L, **307L, **330, **366, *405, *406, *491, *492, *493L; one 3 credit hour Physics course numbered above 300. PHYS 451, *452, and 456 cannot be substituted for the 3 credit hour elective course numbered above 300.
Required supportive courses: CHEM 1215, 1215L, 1225, 1225L; MATH **314, **316.

No minor is required for the B.S. in Physics, although an optional minor or second major may be selected.

Concentrations

• Biophysics
Requirements: PHYS 2415, **301, **303, **304, **307L, **330, **366, *405; BIOL 2110C, 2410C, 303, 303L, 304, 304L. Four electives from: PHYS **302, **302L; BIOC *423; BIOL *425, *429, 436L, 437, 444, 446, 470, 492, 547; BME 517, 544, 570; CBE 530; (CHEM **301 and 303L), (CHEM **302 and 304L), CHEM **315.
Required supportive course: MATH **316.

• Earth and Planetary Sciences
Requirements: PHYS 2415, **301, **307L, **303, **304, (**327 or EPS 436), **330, **366, *405; (GEOL 1110, 1110L) or (GEOL 1120, 1120L); four electives from: EPS *439, 443, 450L, 457L, 462, 476.
Required supportive courses: MATH **314, **316.

• Optics
Requirements: PHYS 2415, **301, **302, **302L, **303, **304, **330, **366, *405, *406. Optics elective number 1: must be chosen as one of ASTR 426; PHYS *463, *464; ECE *475. Optics elective number 2: must be chosen as one of PHYS *430, *477L, *493L, 554. In addition, these two electives must be chosen in such a way that one of the Optics electives is either PHYS *430 or ECE *475. Science/Engineering/Math elective number 1: must be at the 200-level or above; Science/Engineering/Math elective number 2: must be at the 300-level or above.
Required supportive courses: CHEM 1215, 1215L, 1225, 1225L; MATH **314, **316.

Credit Conflicts

Content on specific courses overlaps enough to necessitate restricting credit of both courses toward a student’s degree. These courses are not considered equivalent and the completion of the second course in a pair will not affect a student’s earned hours on the transcript. Students should consult their advisor if they feel the incorrect course is applied for credit on their degree audit.

Students will be allowed to apply only one of the following courses in each pair for credit towards a degree:

PHYS 1230 -or- PHYS 1310
PHYS 1240 -or- PHYS 1320

Minor Study Requirements

Physics

The two courses PHYS 2415; **MATH 316; three courses chosen from: PHYS **301, **302, **302L or **307L, **303, **304, **330, *405, *406.

Astrophysics

The four courses ASTR 2115; PHYS 2415, **330; MATH **316; one course chosen from: PHYS **301, **302, **302L or **307L, **303, *405; 3 credit hours of Astronomy courses numbered above 399.

Departmental Honors

The Departmental Honors program in Physics and Astronomy is designed to provide additional depth to the student’s knowledge in a special area of contemporary physics, and to ground that knowledge in their understanding of the world around them. As the standard undergraduate curriculum is rather tightly defined and scheduled, the Honors Program allows each Honors Student the opportunity to be directly involved in the choice of an addition to his/her educational program. In addition, the program offers the student the opportunity to work closely with one or two professors.

During each of the last two semesters of the student’s undergraduate program, and upon selecting an original research topic that is developed in consultation with a faculty mentor, the student should register for the 1 credit hour honors course, ASTR/PHYS 456. This registration requires the prior approval of the faculty mentor in question. As an honors award is of a departmental nature, the student and mentor should submit an initial proposal outlining the intended work as early as possible, and certainly before the end of the fourth week of the semester in which the work is begun. The proposal is submitted to the department’s Undergraduate Majors Committee for initial approval.

Successful completion is demonstrated by a final, formal, written thesis as well as oral and poster presentations. Approval of the thesis as achieving the level and standard intended for Honors work is made by a subcommittee of the Undergraduate Majors Committee, thereby providing some uniformity for the department. Finally, the student’s overall grade point average within the major must be 3.25 or greater at the time of graduation.

Keys and Symbols Reference