McGill.CA / Science / Department of Physics
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600 level courses

Classroom locations have changed recently. Please consult your MINERVA course schedule for up-to-date information.

Not all courses are offered every year. Please see the current academic schedule on Minerva.

PHYS 601 Introduction to Graduate Studies in Physics 1 (1.5 credits)
  • Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Instructor
  • Restriction(s): Open only to students in a graduate degree program in Physics.
Foundational skills in research and communication, including graduate student orientation, research integrityand ethics, proposal writing, science communication both oral and written for a general audience, outreach and equity, diversity, and inclusion, best practices in teaching assistantship.
PHYS 602 Introduction to Graduate Studies in Physics 2 (1.5 credits)
  • Prerequisite(s): Permission of the Instructor
  • Restriction(s): Open only to students in a graduate degree program in Physics.
Core skills in reading, writing, critical thinking and career opportunities. Preparation for the comprehensive oral exams, paper reviews, writing and responding to referee reports, conference presentations, scientific programming, and data management and visualization.
PHYS 606 Selected Topics: Contemporary Physics 1
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
Selected topics in contemporary physics.
PHYS 607 Selected Topics: Contemporary Physics 2
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
Selected topics in contemporary physics.
PHYS 610 Quantum Field Theory 1
  • Fall term
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
Relativistic wave equations for spin-0, spin-1/2, and spin-1 particles. Review of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for classical mechanics. Canonical, Feynman path-integral, and Schwinger external-source quantization techniques. Relativistic quantum field theories for free spin-0, spin-1/2, and spin-1 particles. Interactions, perturbation theory, and Feynman diagrams.
Instructor for 2024/25: K. Dasgupta (Fall)
PHYS 614 Advanced Astrophysics 1
  • This course is no longer offered
Aspects of the interstellar medium, galactic dynamics, stellar populations, and basic extragalactic astrophysics.
PHYS 615 Advanced Astrophysics 2
  • This course is no longer offered
Galaxy formation, cosmology, and the early universe.
PHYS 616 Multifractals and Turbulence
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
This course assumes knowledge of basic probability theory and Fourier analysis. The subjects covered are: scale-invariant sets: fractal geometry, scale-invariant fields: multifractal fields and processes, aspects of hydrodynamic turbulence, multifractal data analysis techniques, generalized scale invariance, space/time scaling, causality.
PHYS 620 Experimental Methods of Subatomic Physics
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
Basic techniques of experimentation in nuclear and particle physics. Accelerators, beam optics, detection systems, major experiments, Monte-Carlo simulation, data acquisition and data analysis.
Instructor for 2024/25: A. Warburton (Winter)
PHYS 621 High Energy Astrophysics
  • This course is no longer offered
Sources and detection of radiation and high energy particles (cosmic rays, neutrinos, and high energy gamma rays) in astrophysics.
PHYS 632 Seminar in Astrophysics 1
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • Restrictions: Enrolled in M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree program or permission of instructor. Not open to students who have taken PHYS 614.
Seminar on special topics in astrophysics.
PHYS 633 Seminar in Astrophysics 2
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • Restrictions: Enrolled in M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree program or permission of instructor. Not open to students who have taken PHYS 615.
Seminar on special topics in astrophysics.
PHYS 634 Seminar in Advanced Materials
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
A series of research-level seminars about topics of current interest in advanced materials. Topics include molecular and nanoelectronics, computational approaches to materials design and property predictions, new techniques in molecular and atomic imaging, advances in materials preparation, quantum device and quantum computing.
PHYS 641 Observational Techniques of Modern Astrophysics
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
  • Restriction: Enrolment in M.Sc. or Ph.D. program, or permission of the instructor.
Mechanical, electrical, optical, and analytic techniques used in modern astrophysics research. Electromagnetic, gravitational and particle-based observing. Relevant and topical observational problems, contact with forefront of observational research.
Instructor for 2024/25: M. Dobbs (Winter)
PHYS 642 Radiative Processes in Astrophysics
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • Restriction: Enrolment in M.Sc./Ph.D. program, or permission of the instructor.
Why astrophysical sources look the way they do, and how to understand why we see what we see in astronomy. Fundamental physical processes that produce and modify radiation from astrophysical sources, and how they apply to different astronomical examples.
PHYS 643 Astrophysical Fluids
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • Restriction: Enrolment in M.Sc./Ph.D. program, or permission of the instructor.
Physics of astrophysical fluids; how it determines the behaviour, formation, evolution, dissipation and death of astrophysical systems, including objects in hydrostatic balance, such as stars, or with inflows and outflows, such as disks and jets.
PHYS 644 Galaxies and Cosmology
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • Restriction: Enrolment in M.Sc./Ph.D. program, or permission of the instructor.
  • Note: General relativity not a prerequisite.
Our current understanding of the universe, and tools that are used in developing this understanding. Large scale properties of galaxies in a cosmological context; the most important features of the expanding universe.
PHYS 645 High Energy Astrophysics
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
  • Restrictions: Enrolled in M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree program or permission of instructor. Not open to students who have taken PHYS 621.
Physical bases for phenomena associated with strong gravity and high-energy processes in astrophysical contexts. X-rays, gamma-rays, nuclear processes, strong gravity and magnetic fields. Shocks, acceleration, and jets.
Instructor for 2024/25: D. Haggard (Winter)
PHYS 657 Classical Condensed Matter
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
Coarse-grained dynamical models of condensed matter systems and their application to non-equilibrium phase transformations. Topics include: spontaneously broken symmetry, slow dynamics, phase field models, classical density functional theory, amplitude models, perturbation methods, interface dynamics, phase stability, topological defects in solids and microstructure evolution.
PHYS 658 Advanced Condensed Matter
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
Superconductivity: phenomenology; electron-phonon interaction; BCS theory; gap structure; Ginzburg-Landau formulation; magnetic, transport and thermodynamic properties; vortices; superfluids; unconventional superconductors. Magnetism: local vs itinerant magnetism; magnetic ordering; spin fluctuations; neutron and magnetic X-ray scattering; magnetism at surfaces; frustration. Additional topic amongst: quantum Hall effect; localization; quasicrystals; glasses; etc.
PHYS 659 Experimental Condensed Matter
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
To obtain an active understanding of the principles, the possibilities and the limitations of various experimental techniques. Possible topics include vacuum and low-temperature techniques; transport, thermal, magnetization and de Haas van Alphen measurements; scattering techniques; Mossbauer spectroscopy, NMR, scanning probe microscopy, electron microscopy; surface science methods.
Instructor for 2024/25: D. Cooke (Winter)
PHYS 660 Quantum Condensed Matter
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
Second quantization and quantum mean-field theory. Hartree-Fock theory, Fermi liquids. Broken-symmetry quantum phases: magnetism, charge density waves, Wigner crystals, superfluids, superconductivity. Introduction to mesoscopic physics and quantum transport. Introduction to renormalization techniques within the context of Kondo physics.
Instructor for 2024/25: B. Coish (Winter)
PHYS 673 Quantum Field Theory 2
  • Winter term
  • 3 credits
  • 3 hours
  • Prerequisite: PHYS 610 or permission of instructor.
Loop diagrams, renormalization, Abelian and nonabelian gauge theory, QCD, introduction to the Standard Model.
Instructor for 2024/25: S. Caron-Huot (Winter)
PHYS 690 M.Sc. Thesis
  • Fall or winter terms
  • 24 credits
Independent thesis research work.
PHYS 690D1 M.Sc. Thesis
Independent thesis research work.
PHYS 690D2 M.Sc. Thesis
See PHYS 690D1 for course description.
PHYS 690N1 M.Sc. Thesis
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 12 credits
  • Students must also register for PHYS 690N2.
  • No credit will be given for this course unless both PHYS 690N1 and PHYS 690N2 are successfully completed in a twelve month period.
Independent thesis research work.
PHYS 690N2 M.Sc. Thesis
  • Not offered in 2024/25
  • 12 credits
  • Prerequisite: PHYS 690N1.
  • No credit will be given for this course unless both PHYS 690N1 and PHYS 690N2 are successfully completed in a twelve month period.
Independent thesis research work.
PHYS 692 Thesis Project
  • Fall or winter terms
  • 6 credits
Independent work under the direction of the student's supervisor on a research problem in the student's designated area of research leading to a project report or seminar.
PHYS 692D1 Thesis Project
Independent work under the direction of the student's supervisor on a research problem in the student's designated area of research leading to a project report or seminar.
PHYS 692D2 Thesis Project
See PHYS 692D1 for course description.
PHYS 693 M.Sc. Research
  • Fall or winter terms
  • 3 credits
Independent work under the direction of the student's supervisor on a research problem in the student's designated area of research leading to a project report or seminar.
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