MIT Physics Department

The Physics Department at MIT has over 120 faculty members. It offers academic programs leading to the S.B., S.M., Ph.D. and Sc.D. degrees.

As of 2006, the department counts four Nobel Prize winners among its faculty: Samuel C.C. Ting (1976), Jerome I. Friedman (1990), Wolfgang Ketterle (2001) and Frank Wilczek (2004). A few other former faculty members have also been so honored: Clifford Shull (1994), Henry Kendall (1990), Steven Weinberg (1979) and Charles H. Townes (1964). MIT Physics alumni who have received the Nobel Prize for Physics are George Smoot (2006), Eric A. Cornell and Carl E. Wieman (2001), Robert B. Laughlin (1998), William D. Phillips (1997), Burton Richter (1976), John Robert Schrieffer (1972), Murray Gell-Mann (1969), Richard Feynman (1965) and William Shockley (1956).

Academics

Undergraduate academics

There are two paths to earning an S.B. in physics from MIT. The first, "Course 8 Focused Option", is for students intending to continue studying physics in graduate school.

The second, "Course 8 Flexible Option" is designed for those students who would like to develop a strong background in physics but who do not necessarily want to pursue graduate work in the field. It is an excellent preparation for further study in medicine, law, engineering, business, etc.

Introductory physics

All undergraduate students at MIT, regardless of their major, are required to take two semesters of introductory physics (or receive equivalent transfer credit). The first semester is centered on Newtonian Mechanics, the second on Electromagnetism. The two classes are taught at different levels of sophistication:
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.01/www/ 8.01] , [http://mit.edu/8.02/www/ 8.02] : The standard introductory courses, intended to give science and engineering majors a solid grounding in introductory physics
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.01l/www/ 8.01L] : A version of 8.01 that stresses lab work. The class runs through the fall semester and into the January Independent Activities Period.
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.011/www/ 8.011] : The spring semester version of 8.01, taught in a small-class environment.
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.012/www/ 8.012] , [http://web.mit.edu/8.022/www/ 8.022] : These classes are taught at a higher level than 8.01/8.02; a certain degree of mathematical maturity is assumed.

Course 8 focused requirements

In addition to the General Institute Requirements, students must complete these classes:
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.03/www/ 8.03] Physics III (Wave Mechanics)
* [http://math.mit.edu/18.03 18.03] / [http://www-math.mit.edu/~dav/034.html 18.034] Differential Equations
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.033/ 8.033] Relativity
* [http://mit.edu/8.04/www/ 8.04] Quantum Physics I
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.044/www/ 8.044] Statistical Physics I
* [http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-05Fall-2004/CourseHome/index.htm 8.05] Quantum Physics II
* [http://mit.edu/8.06/www/ 8.06] Quantum Physics III
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.13/www/index.shtml 8.13] Experimental Physics I
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.14/www/ 8.14] Experimental Physics II
* 8.ThU Thesis

Students are also required to take two additional classes offered by the Department of Mathematics that are above the 18.03 level. Students are often recommended to take 18.04 (Complex Variables) and 18.06 (Linear Algebra).

The department also requires two additional physics subjects, one of which has to be the following:
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.07/www/ 8.07] Electromagnetism II
* [http://dao.mit.edu/8.08/ 8.08] Statistical Physics II
* [http://web.mit.edu/8.09/www/ 8.09] Classical Mechanics II

Course 8 flexible requirements

Along with the General Institute Requiements, 8-B students must also take:

* 8.03 Physics III (Wave Mechanics)
* 18.03/18.034 Differential Equations
* 8.04 Quantum Physics I
* One of the following subjects:
** 8.05 Quantum Physics II
** 8.20 Introduction to Special Relativity
** 8.033 Relativity
* A laboratory class
** 8.13 Experimental Physics I
** A laboratory subject of similar rigor in another department
** An experimental research project
** An experimentally oriented summer externship
* At least one subject offered by the department in addition to the ones listed above.
* Three subjects that form an intellectually coherent unit in some area (e.g. Nanotechnology, Biophysics, Astronomy, etc.)

Graduate academics

Candidates for admission to MIT's graduate level physics programs are expected to have the equivalent background of an MIT undergraduate physics education. Exceptions are made, however, those students are expected to bring their proficiency up to MIT standards during their course of study.

MIT offers both masters and doctoral level degree programs in physics.

Requirements for the Master of Science in Physics

In addition to the General Institute Requirements, a candidate must present a masters thesis that represents his or her independent research work. This work must be carried out under the supervision of a physics department faculty member.

Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Science in Physics

At MIT, the Ph.D. and Sc.D. are interchangeable. In addition to fulfilling the General Institute Requirements, a student must enroll in basic graduate subjects and pass general examinations.

There are no specific subjects the student must study, but he or she is required to take two courses in the candidates's field of research specialization, and two that are outside it.

Candidates must pass two written examinations on general physics material and an oral examination in a specialized field no later than their seventh term after they initially enroll for graduate study at MIT.

Finally, the candidate must submit a doctoral dissertation that contains a substantial piece of original research, under the supervision of a member of the physics department faculty.

Current members of the faculty

Professors

* Raymond Ashoori
* Ulrich J. Becker
* John W. Belcher
* George G. Benedek
* William Bertozzi
* Edmund Bertschinger
* Wit Busza
* Claude R. Canizares
* Min Chen
* Bruno Coppi
* Mildred S. Dresselhaus
* James L. Elliot, S.B. 1965
* Edward H. Farhi
* Michael S. Feld, S.B. 1963, S.M. 1963, Ph.D. 1967
* Peter Fisher
* Daniel Freedman
* Thomas J. Greytak
* Alan Guth, S.B. 1968, Ph.D. 1971
* Jacqueline N. Hewitt
* Erich P. Ippen
* Roman W. Jackiw
* Robert L. Jaffe
* John D. Joannopoulos
* Paul C. Joss
* Mehran Kardar
* Marc A. Kastner
* Wolfgang Ketterle
* Stanley B. Kowalski
* Patrick A. Lee
* Leonid S. Levitov
* Walter Lewin
* J. David Litster
* June L. Matthews
* Ricard G. Milner
* Ernest J. Moniz
* John W. Negele
* Miklos Porkolab
* David E. Pritchard
* Krishna Rajagopal
* Saul A. Rappaport
* Robert P. Redwine
* Paul Schechter
* H. Sebastian Seung
* Washington Taylor
* Samuel C.C. Ting
* Xiao-Gang Wen
* Frank Wilczek
* Boleslaw Wyslouch
* Richard K. Yamamoto
* Barton Zwiebach

Associate professors

* Scott Burles
* Deepto Chakrabarty, S.B. 1988
* Isaac Chuang, S.B. 1990
* Young Sang Lee
* Leonid Mirny
* Christoph M.E. Paus
* Gunther Roland
* Max Tegmark
* Alexander van Oudenaarden
* Vladan Vuletic

Assistant professors

* Adam J. Burgasser
* Jan Egedal-Pedersen
* Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano
* Joseph Formaggio
* Eric W. Hudson
* Scott A. Hughes
* Erotokritos Katsavounidis
* Bruce Knuteson
* Hong Liu
* Nergis Mavalvala
* John McGreevy
* Steven Nahn
* Gabriella Sciolla
* Marin Soljačić
* Iain W. Stewart
* Bernd Surrow
* Senthil Todadri
* Joshua Winn

enior lecturers

* Peter Dourmashkin
* Alan J. Lazarus
* George S.F. Stephans
* Frank E. Taylor

Lecturers

* David Kaiser
* Scott Sewell

enior research scientists

* Thomas William Donnelly
* Earl S. Marmar
* Frank E. Taylor
* Richard Temkin

Professors emeriti

* Michel Baranger
* A. Nihat Berker
* Aron Bernstein
* Hale Bradt, Ph.D. 1961
* Bernard Burke
* George Clark
* Eric Cosman
* Peter Demos
* Thomas H. Dupree
* Harald Enge
* Anthony French
* Jerome I. Friedman
* Jeffrey Goldstone
* Lee Grodzins
* Kerson Huang, Ph.D. 1953
* Robert Hulsizer
* Karl U. Ingard
* Ali Javan
* Arthur K. Kermin
* John King
* Vera Kistiakowsky
* Daniel Kleppner
* George Koster
* Benjamin Lax
* Earle Lomon
* Stanislaw Olbert
* Louis S. Osborne
* Irwin A. Pless
* Lawrence Rosenson
* Malcom Strandberg
* Lazlo Tisza
* Rainer Weiss, B.S. 1955, Ph.D. 1962
* Peter A. Wolff
* James Young

Former members of the faculty

* Boris Altshuler
* Francis Bitter
* Robert J. Birgeneau
* William W. Buechner
* Charles R. Cross
* Martin Deutsch, S.B. 1937, Ph.D. 1941
* Sergio Fubini
* Herman Feshbach, Ph.D. 1942
* Nathaniel Frank
* Henry W. Kendall, S.B. 1948, Ph.D. 1951
* Robert J. Kolenkow, S.B. 1955
* Francis E. Low
* Richard Cockburn Maclaurin
* Philip Morrison
* Phillip Morse
* Charles Ladd Norton
* Edward C. Pickering
* William Barton Rogers
* Bruno Rossi
* Francis Sears
* Clifford G. Shull
* John C. Slater
* Julius A. Stratton
* Charles H. Townes
* Steven Weinberg
* Victor F. Weisskopf
* Edwin Bidwell Wilson
* Manuel Sandoval Vallarta, S.B. 1921, Ph.D. 1924
* Robert J. Van de Graaff
* Gabriele Veneziano
* Felix Villars
* Jerrold Zacharias

Notable alumni

External links

* [http://web.mit.edu/physics/ MIT Physics Department website]
* [http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/index.htm MIT OpenCourseWare: Physics]