Upper Division Courses

PHYSICS/ASTRON C101: Order-Of-Magnitude Physics

Learn how to understand the world around you to within a factor of 10, how to solve real-life problems from physical first principles, how to make ill-posed questions well-posed, and how to sketch solutions quickly and avoid long and formal derivations. These skills build physical intuition and are crucial for all lines of work, especially research. You will learn how to guess intelligently, how to follow your hunches while guided by the laws of physics, and how to maximize understanding from just a modicum of information — how to reason inductively and quantitatively. All of undergraduate physics — mechanics, E&M, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics — will be covered in useful, memorable, and entertaining ways.

  • prerequisites: Physics 7A, 7B, 7C (7C may be taken concurrently), plus preferably at least one upper division physical science or engineering course
  • offered in either fall or spring but not both

ASTRON 120: Optical and Infrared Astronomy Laboratory

This course requires four to six experiments such as the following: accurate position and brightness measurements of stars; laboratory exploration of the characteristics of two-dimensional charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and infrared detectors; building a spectroscopic instrument; measurement of the distance, reddening, and age of a star cluster; measurement of the period and pulse shape of the Crab pulsar using Fourier techniques. Professional telescopes will be used such as those at Leuschner Observatory and Lick Observatory. There is a emphasis on error analysis, software development in the Python language, instrumentation development, and high-quality written reports.

  • prerequisites: Astronomy 7A-7B recommended; Mathematics 54 or Physics 89 (may be taken concurrently); Physics 7A-7B-7C (7C may be taken concurrently) or Physics 5A-5B-5C (5C may be taken concurrently)
  • historically offered in fall
 
ASTRON 121: Radio Astronomy Laboratory
 
Several basic laboratory experiments that concentrate on microwave electronics and techniques; construction of receiving, observing, and data analysis systems for two radioastronomical telescopes, a single-dish 21-cm line system and a 12-GHz interferometer; use of these telescopes for astronomical observing projects including structure of the Milky Way galaxy, precise position measurement of several radio sources, and measurement of the radio brightness distributions of the sun and moon with high angular resolution. There is a heavy emphasis on digital data acquisition, software development in the Python language, and high-quality written reports.
  • prerequisites: Astro 7A-7B recommended; Mathematics 53; Mathematics 54 or Physics 89; Physics 7A-7B-7C or Physics 5A-5B-5C
  • historically offered in spring
 
ASTRON 128: Astronomy Data Science Laboratory
 
This course features 3 data-centric laboratory experiments that draw on a variety of tools used by professional astronomers. Students will learn to procure and clean data (drawn from a variety of world-class astronomical facilities), assess the fidelity/quality of data, build and apply models to describe data, learn statistical and computational techniques to analyze data (e.g., Bayesian inference, machine learning, parallel computing), and effectively communicate data and scientific results. There is a heavy emphasis on software development in the Python language, statistical techniques, and high-quality communication (e.g., written reports, oral presentations, and data visualization).
  • prerequisites: Astro 7A-7B; Mathematics 53; Mathematics 54 or Physics 89; Astro 160; Astro C161 (may be taken concurrently) and Data C8 or C100 (or equivalent level of fluency of the Python programming language)
  • historically offered in spring
ASTRON 160: Stellar Physics
 
Topics covered include some, but not necessarily all, of the following. Observational constraints on the properties and evolution of stars. Theory of stellar structure and evolution. Stellar atmospheres and stellar spectroscopy. Stellar nucleosynthesis. Supernovae. Degeneracy of matter and structure of collapsed stars. Elements of gas dynamics, accretion onto compact objects, and x-ray sources. Dynamics and evolution of close binary systems. Stellar pulsation.
  • prerequisites: Astro 7A recommended; Physics 7A-7B-7C (7C may be taken concurrently) or Physics 5A-5B-5C (5C may be taken concurrently)
  • historically offered in fall
 
ASTRON C161: Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology
 
Elements of general relativity. Physics of pulsars, cosmic rays, black holes. The cosmological distance scale, elementary cosmological models, properties of galaxies and quasars. The mass density and age of the universe. Evidence for dark matter and dark energy and concepts of the early universe and of galaxy formation. Reflections on astrophysics as a probe of the extrema of physics.
  • prerequisites: Astro 7B recommended; Physics 7A-7B-7C (7C may be taken concurrently) or Physics 5A-5B-5C (5C may be taken concurrently)
  • historically offered in spring
 
ASTRON C162: Planetary Astrophysics
 
Physics of planetary systems, both solar and extra-solar. Star and planet formation, radioactive dating, small-body dynamics and interaction of radiation with matter, tides, planetary interiors, atmospheres, and magnetospheres. High-quality oral presentations may be required in addition to problem sets and a final exam.
  • prerequisites: Mathematics 53, 54; Physics 7A-7B-7C
  • offered in either fall or spring but not both