BA and MS Physics

Physics is the most basic of the natural sciences. It is concerned with understanding the world on all scales of length, time, and energy. The methods of physics are diverse, but they share a common objective to develop and refine fundamental models that quantitatively explain observations and the results of experiments. The discoveries of physics, exemplified by the laws of physics, rank among the most important achievements of human inquiry, and have had an enormous impact on human culture and civilization. Members of the department carry out research in the fields of astrophysics, biophysics, cosmology, elementary particle physics, gravitation, hard and soft condensed matter physics, and statistical physics. Experimental work is carried out in state-of-the art laboratories in the department and at national and international facilities such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and astronomical telescopes in space.