Guide to Physics Graduate Program Completion

Department of Physics Graduate Program - 103-33 - Pasadena - California - 91125

Guide to Physics Graduate Program Completion

The purpose of this web page is to answer your questions about graduate student requirements, policies, and other useful information. Everything here is specific to the physics department. Please address comments or suggestions concerning policies or requirements to kgl@caltech.edu

INCOMING STUDENTS People You Should Know Summer & Fall Arrivals Placement Exams What Classes You Should Take	THE ORAL CANDIDACY EXAM A list of Candidacy Requirements How to Schedule Your Oral Candidacy Exam What to do Before & After the Exam
THE BASIC PHYSICS EXAM REQUIREMENT Exam I (CP) Mostly Classical Mechanics & Electrodynamics Exam II (QM) Mostly Quantum & Statistical Mechanics Sample Problems Suggestions on Studying for the Exams	THE ADVANCED PHYSICS REQUIREMENT Course substitutions How to Satisfy the Advanced Physics Requirement
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS Timeline for Completion Department Policies for Graduate Students	WRITING A THESIS Caltech Requirements: Forms & Regulations How to Schedule Your Thesis Defense Master's Degree

People You Should Know:

Donna Driscoll (donnad@caltech.edu) Physics Graduate Program Administrator: Donna can help with administrative issues that physics graduate students are likely to encounter at Caltech. Specifically, contact Donna for scheduling your written exams, oral candidacy exam and thesis defense, problems with funding or paychecks, when you join a research group or switch to a new research advisor, when your funding changes; ie if you receive an outside fellowship award or you need a teaching assignment, and if you move house or office.

Frank Porter (fcp@hep.caltech.edu) Physics Option Representative: Frank monitors your academic progress and signs most of the graduate forms and petitions you are likely to encounter. Send a list of courses you wish to use in satisfaction of the advanced requirement to Frank for approval. Frank also assigns TA duties, contact Frank if you are interested in a teaching assignment.

Ken Libbrecht (kgl@caltech.edu) Physics Executive Officer: Ken monitors graduate student policies in the department including the course and exam requirements. Ken will sign your forms and petitions if Frank is not available. Ken also approves your oral candidacy exam and final thesis defense committee.

Take your problems to Donna, Frank and Ken, consider them your best resource, however, please read on, since many of your questions are probably answered below. Your fellow more senior graduate students are also an excellent resource for general graduate life issues.

New Arrivals:

Incoming Graduate Students:

Summer & Fall Arrivals | Where to go and what to do | FORMS

Placement Exams:

Placement exams are given to all new graduate students in Physics and Astronomy as a guideline for selecting courses. Exams are held on Monday of general orientation week at 10:00 am in the Physics Lecture Hall, Room 201 E. Bridge. Since these exams are solely for the purpose of helping you select the proper courses, no record of the results will be kept. An extensive review is not necessary. Exams cover topics in analytical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, and mathematical methods, roughly at the level of our courses Ph 106, Ph 125 and Ph 129, which are described in the course catalog. No books may be referred to during these exams. More information is available on the Physics Graduate Placement Exam Schedule which is updated in September.

What Classes You Should Take:

New students often ask this question, and it's difficult to answer. It depends on who you are, what your background is, and what research areas you are interested in currently.

First of all, be sure to register for Ph242ab. This is the only required course in the physics graduate program, and all students should take it their first year. The course is easy, fun, and introduces you to some of the faculty and research that is being conducted in both in the physics department as well as other options. This course comes with free lunch!

Second, you may want to consider taking some of Ph106, Ph125, Ph127, and/or Ph129. These courses teach you basic physics -- mechanics, E&M, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and math methods. If you did not do so well on the placement exams, consider that a clue that maybe you need to brush up on these basics. However, know that Ph106, Ph125, and Ph127 are essentially undergraduate courses.

If you have already taken similar courses at your undergraduate institution, these courses may not help you much with the basic written exams. You might do better by skipping ahead to more advanced (and interesting) courses, and studying independently for the exams. You have to decide. For help deciding, ask some of the more senior students. Note that Ph125c often contains fairly advanced material, since most of the basics are covered in Ph125ab--check with the course instructor for details.

You should also know that taking any portion of Ph106, Ph125 or Ph127 will NOT by itself prepare you for the Basic physics written candidacy exams. The exams are difficult, and you have to study for them. See more about The Basic Physics Requirement.

Finally, take some advanced courses that will satisfy the Advanced Physics Requirement. Courses are described in the Course Catalog, also check the course substitution list. You might especially consider Ph135 and Ph136, which are survey courses covering a wide range of physics. Here again, ask other students about the courses and professors; remember, however, that opinions vary widely -- often a course is rated both very high and very low by different people.

Physics graduate students are allowed to take any course pass/fail, if the instructor permits, including those taken in satisfaction of the advanced physics requirement. One should note, however, the constraint that the exercise of the pass/fail option (in a course that is not already designated as pass/fail) is limited to two courses per term.

Timeline for Completing Graduation Requirements:

FIRST YEAR - COURSES: Both terms of Ph242ab Physics Seminar should be taken during the first two terms of graduate study. However, you may postpone if extenuating circumstances make it necessary that one or both terms be taken in the second year.
FIRST YEAR - EXAMS: Both written candidacy exams, CP & QM -- see The Basic Physics Requirement -- must be attempted by the end of the first year. New students may take exams in October of the first year or the summer following the first academic year in June/July to satisfy this requirement.
SECOND YEAR - EXAMS: Written exams must be successfully completed by the end of the second year.
SECOND YEAR - COURSES: The Advanced Physics Requirements must be completed by the end of the second year.
THIRD YEAR: The Oral Candidacy Exam should be taken by the end of the third year. Beyond the third year, students must petition the Dean of Graduate Studies for excessive registration candidacy, and provide a timetable signed by the advisor for completing the oral exam. Written exams and basic course requirements must be successfully completed prior to the scheduling of the oral exam. Once the oral exam is passed, the student is admitted into Ph.D. candidacy.
FIFTH YEAR: The Institute expects graduate students to complete their program of study by the end of the fifth year. Students beyond the fifth year must petition the Dean of Graduate Studies for excessive registration and provide a timetable for completion of the thesis requirement. All that's left is to write a fabulous thesis!

NOTE: You must register for at least 36 units every term. After the first year or two, when your course units are all associated with research, you will typically register for 36 units of experimental (Ph 172) or theoretical (Ph173) research. After passing the oral candidacy exam, you will typically register for 36 units of thesis research (Ph 300) in subsequent terms. Please refer to Departmental Policies Pertaining to Graduate Students for detailed information concerning requirements.

The Basic Physics Exam Requirement:

General philosophy --
The Basic Physics Exam Requirement is meant to make sure you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of physics -- classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, basic optics and continuum physics, basic mathematical methods of physics, and the physics of everyday phenomena. This is generally undergraduate material, and most students have seen a lot of it before. No coursework is required, but you must pass two written (quals) examinations to qualify for admission to candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Physics. The real point of the exams is to force you to study this material again, to absorb it more deeply than you did as an undergraduate. It's really basic stuff, and you can't call yourself a PhD physicist without knowing it well. See the information about the QUALS for a detailed syllabus for both Exam I (CP) and Exam II (QM)

SAMPLE PROBLEMS FOR THE EXAMS --
You can get a list of sample problems for the exams from the Physics Graduate Office. The list is long, and so far not carefully checked. You may find a problem or two that is impossible, incomprehensible, irrelevant, confusing, or just plain bizarre. There are probably some typos, since this material is fairly new. If you find such problems, please send a comment to kgl@caltech.edu, so the problem can be repaired or removed.

SUGGESTIONS ON STUDYING FOR THE EXAMS --
First of all, the written exams are difficult, so unless you are possessed with the ghost of Feynman it's likely that you will have to do some serious studying to pass them. Also, each exam can be attempted a maximum of three times. If you do not pass after the third time, it's trouble. You should set aside a lot of time for studying, and go into an exam expecting to pass it. First year students are expected to attempt both QM and CP at the end of the first year, meaning the summer exam session. The October exam session is mainly for retakes, and not an alternative to the summer exam session. Postponing an exam requires special permission from Frank Porter and a really good excuse. It is not recommended that you focus on only one exam per year, as some faculty may consider accepting students who have successfully completed these exams over others, especially when space and funding are at issue.

Taking courses can help you prepare for the exams, particularly Ph106, Ph125, Ph127, and probably Ph135 and Ph136. However do not expect classes alone to get you through the exams -- it's not enough! Taking a course is a great introduction to the material, but sitting and listening is not as good as going and doing.

By far the best preparation for the exams is to work sample problems...lots of them. To make this task a lot more fun, get together in a group and work on the same problems (but work them independently). When you are done, compare your solutions. This can lead to some very interesting, and possibly heated, debates on the underlying physics. And by the way, really work the problems out independently -- working together, or having a solution to consult, will greatly diminish the value of doing sample problems.

SCHEDULING written exams is fairly flexible. Exams are offered twice each year, two sessions for each exam over two weeks in June/July and two sessions for either exam during one week in October for retakes. Exact dates will be posted several months ahead. You must schedule your written exams and sign-up well before the session begins. Please check the Written Candidacy Exam Schedule and notify Donna via email with your session preference. Summer Exams are offered at 8:00 am and 1:00 pm in Room 114 E. Bridge, the week following Commencement for Classical Physics (CP), and the week following the July 4th holidays for Quantum Mechanics (QM). The 1:00 PM sessions will be held on Tuesday, the 8:00 AM sessions will be held on Thursday. Each exam is three hours. Maximum occupancy at any exam session is eighteen persons. You should bring pens or pencils. Scratch paper and blue books will be provided. You may bring a calculator, snacks or beverages, please do not bring lunch. You must arrive at least five minutes before the exam start time as instructions will be given to everyone at the same time. If you arrive late, you will not be allowed extra time. Exams will be collected at the end of each session promptly at 11:00 am and 4:00 pm. You should be aware that grading takes an unknown length of time as each problem is graded by a different individual. The average time is between two to three weeks. The CP exams will be sent to the graders at the end of the week of CP sessions. The QM exams will be sent to the graders at the end of the week of QM sessions. You will be notified via email when you have either accumulated enough points to pass with partial grading, or when the final determination on borderline scores (approximately 50%) has been made by the exam committee.

The Advanced Physics Requirement:

General philosophy --
The Advanced Physics Requirement is really a breadth requirement; it's purpose is to make sure students graduating from Caltech leave with a fairly broad knowledge of physics. At the same time, students can choose what courses they take to satisfy this requirement, following their personal interests. See ADVANCED for a list of course substitutions and instructions on how to satisfy the advanced physics requirement.

The Oral Candidacy Exam:

Before scheduling your Oral Candidacy Exam, you should have completed:

Two terms of Ph242 - Physics Seminar - This should be taken during your first year of graduate study.

Two written candidacy exams - see the Basic Physics Requirement, the exams should be attempted at the end of first year and successfully completed by the end of second year.

The Advanced Physics Requirement - These courses should be completed by the end of your second year, if possible.

You should review the information found on the Oral Candidacy Exam page for detailed instructions about scheduling your exam and how to complete the necessary forms.

Thesis Requirements:

The Dean of Graduate Studies Office provides a package of information on writing a thesis, including things like forms and regulations. An unofficial LaTex style file has been around for some time.

MASTER'S DEGREE: Although the physics department does not admit graduate students to work towards the Master of Science Degree, one can be awarded upon request to physics students who have completed the written and oral candidacy examinations. Alternatively, the MS degree can be awarded to any Caltech graduate student in good standing upon satisfactory completion of a program approved by the option representative that fulfills the requirements as listed in the catalog.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Many students who defend during third term are not aware that Caltech is only able to pay them as graduate students through the end of the term in which they defend. If you are on a student visa, and plan to stay on campus as a postdoc or research staff, you must contact the International Scholar Services Office (visa@caltech or X2188) at least three months before you defend, to remain in correct visa status after you are no longer eligible for a student visa. Failure to update your visa may result in the need to leave the US and re-enter on a new visa in order to continue working beyond graduation.

THESIS DEFENSE: Scheduling the thesis defense is similar to the oral candidacy exam scheduling process, except that the forms are obtained online from the Dean of Graduate Studies Office, however, you do need to inform the PGO of your thesis defense information. If you wish to use a conference room in East Bridge, you must send an email request to the Physics Graduate Office. You should include the specific information regarding your exam listed on the thesis defense page. It is very important to notify the PGO well in advance of your defense date so that your financial aid can be terminated in a timely manner, otherwise you will need to refund the overpaid graduate student salary. In addition to the copies of the final version of your thesis the Institute requires, the physics department also requires one copy. This final version copy may be a two-sided bound or unbound photocopy. BEFORE YOU LEAVE CALTECH, PLEASE INFORM THE PHYSICS GRADUATE OFFICE OF YOUR FORWARDING ADDRESS AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION.

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