Graduate Courses
Core Sequence
These courses encompass the heart of the graduate curriculum, and are aimed at preparing each graduate student to take the more advanced elective courses directly applicable to a chosen research discipline. The core sequence includes Mathematical Methods in Physics, Advanced Mechanics, Electromagnetic Theory, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics, Graduate Laboratory, Computational Physics and a course in writing and presentation.
Advanced Electives
The graduate student, in consultation with an advisor, will select which of these courses are most applicable to the student's choice of discipline. These courses include Quantum Field Theory, Nuclear Physics, Solid State Physics, Nonlinear Systems and selected topics courses.
Research Courses
These are the courses which represent the academic advancement that the graduate student achieves while participating in the activities of a research group. As the specific activity will vary wildly from student to student, no unified description is necessary or possible for this course.
Notable Alumnus: Raymond Seeger
Ray Seeger joined the GW Physics Department in 1930. For the next twelve years, while carrying a full teaching responsibility, he published results of his research work with Edward Teller on topics in quantum solid-state physics. During the war, he worked on shock waves and fluid dynamics at the Naval Bureau of Ordinance where Albert Einstein was also a consultant. Seeger recommended acquisition by the Navy of one of the first computers to be used for experimental mathematics and fluid mechanics.