Department of Physics and Astronomy
Michigan State University
Physics is a branch of science…
… pure knowledge obtained from research
Science (pure knowledge) leads to
technology (applied knowledge).
Technology…
Electric motors
Technology…
Electric generators
Science…
The magnetic force on
an electric current
Science…
Faraday’s law of
electromagnetic induction
Physics and Astronomy
at Michigan State University
Main research groups
•Nuclear Physics, the NSCL
•High-Energy Physics at Fermilab and
CERN
•Condensed Matter Physics
•Astronomy and Astrophysics
Many students get involved in research
projects as part of their education.
www.pa.msu.edu
Nuclear physics
National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab
Chart of the Nuclides
High-energy physics experiments at Fermilab
Condensed Matter Physics
Keck Microfabrication Facility
The SQUID
SOuthern Astrophysical Research (SOAR)
Telescope
The SOAR telescope is a 4.2-meter aperture telescope funded by a
partnership between the US National Optical Astronomy Observatories
(NOAO), the Country of Brazil, Michigan State University, and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The project is fully funded and under construction atop Cerro Pachón at
the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO) in the Chilean
Andes. The telescope is being designed to support science in both high
quality imaging and spectroscopy in the optical and near infrared
wavelengths. The f/16 Ritchey-Chrétien optical design shall deliver a 12arcmin diameter field of view with a tip/tilt stabilized image through a
telescope with 0.18 arcsec image quality.
A Physics Major as the Preparation for a Career
Examples of career choices of MSU physics majors:
•Scientific research
•Education (college or high school)
•Industrial research
•Engineering
•Computing (software, hardware, or networks)
•Law, medicine, business 
Some of these require graduate or professional school.
Physics is a good preparation for many career options.
A typical schedule of courses for a first-year student
majoring in physics
Fall Semester
Spring semester
PHY 170
3 credits
PHY 183
4 credits
PHY 101
1
PHY 102
1
MTH 132
3
MTH 133
4
CEM 151
4
CEM 152
3
ATL
4
BIO
4
PHY 170 Investigations in Physics
PHY 101 Concepts in Physics
MTH 132 Calculus I
CEM
Chemistry
ATL
Writing course
PHY 183 Physics for Scientists I
PHY 102 Physics computations I
MTH 133 Calculus II
BIO
A course on biology