Florida State University Graduate Bulletin 2007-2009

Program in Chemical Physics

College of Arts and Sciences

Chair: S.A. Safron; Professors: Dalal, Dougherty, Fulton, Manousakis, Marshall, Rikvold, Safron, Van Winkle, von Molnar; Associate Professors: Alabugin, Cao, Fischer, Hilinski, Lind; Assistant Professors: Nymeyer, Steinbock, Xang, Xiong

The departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics offer interdepartmental doctor of philosophy and master of science degrees through the Program in Chemical Physics. The program gives students a broad fundamental background for the study of the structure and behavior of matter. It also affords them the opportunity to work with a professor whose field is closest to their own interests, regardless of departmental affiliation. The cooperating faculty consists of members from both departments. The program is designed to serve students trained in mathematics and engineering as well as in chemistry and physics.

Chemical physics programs have typically focused on individual molecules or small molecular systems for theoretical development and experimentation, and many of the chemical physics faculty are engaged in just such work. A number of powerful approaches are being developed. Of these approaches, computational methods have been among the most important. The School of Computational Science (SCS) has as part of its mission the development of computational methods which will be applicable to problems in a wide variety of areas. Some members of the chemical physics program are associated with SCS; their research interests generally involve developing computational techniques for the new supercomputers which are particularly useful in chemical physics and in carrying out some of these calculations.

A number of faculty in the program are also associated with the Center for Materials Research and Technology or MARTECH. These researchers are interested in mobilizing the powerful array of theoretical and experimental techniques developed for traditional chemical physics problems to attack the more complicated and less well-developed field of material science. For experimental workers, most of the latest analytical tools, such as X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA), Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), Auger Spectroscopy, Ellipsometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and more, are available to the research community. For those interested in calculations, some faculty are associated with both MARTECH and SCS. Additional research facilities have also become available at the new National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

College Requirements

Please review all college-wide degree requirements summarized in the "College of Arts and Sciences" chapter of this Graduate Bulletin.

Admission Requirements

Students with acceptable chemistry or physics undergraduate degrees and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) scores can be admitted into the program after having been accepted by either the chemistry or physics departments. Alternatively, students with an appropriate undergraduate record and acceptable GRE scores can enter directly into the chemical physics program. Depending on how they enter the program, new students should prepare themselves for one of three qualifying examinations: physics, chemistry, or chemical physics.

In the case of the departmental qualifying procedure (diagnostic examinations, followed by evaluation of course work performance in chemistry and proficiency examination in physics), the usual departmental rules shall apply. The rules governing the chemical physics qualifying examination will be consistent with those of the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics. This examination will include material from: 1) two semesters of physical chemistry at the level of CHM 4410–4411, and 4410L–4411L and 2) upper-division courses in mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and optics.

Master's Degree

Only a thesis-type master of science degree is offered. The candidate must earn at least sixteen (16) semester hours of credit at the 5000 level or above and, of these sixteen (16), at least six (6) must be in formal lecture courses in either physics or chemistry. A minimum of six (6) semester hours of thesis credit is required. The candidate must also achieve an appropriate performance on the qualifying examination. Students must take an oral examination that will include a defense of the thesis. A satisfactory thesis may be required by the faculty as a prerequisite to candidacy for the doctoral degree in particular cases, but neither the thesis nor the master's degree is a general prerequisite for the doctor of philosophy (PhD) degree.

Doctoral Degree

  1. The preliminary examination for the PhD degree program consists of both written and oral sections. The student can satisfy the written part by following one of two options:
    1. Option A. The student may take and pass six out of the 16 cumulative exams given by the physical chemistry division of the Chemistry and Biochemistry department in a two-year period. These two-hour exams are given eight times a year. Each cumulative exam addresses one of the broad areas of physical chemistry: thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, kinetics, and quantum mechanics/spectroscopy. Normally, the student begins taking the cumulative exams at the start of the second year and continues until six are passed or 16 are attempted. In addition, the student must complete satisfactorily (earning a "B" or better) senior-level electricity and magnetism courses (PHY 4323–4324 or their equivalent) and one special topics in physics course (PHY 6938r) approved by the student's supervisory committee. The physical chemistry cumulative exams are based in part on the courses CHM 5440, 5460, 5461, 5480, 5481, and 5585
    2. Option B. The student may take and pass the written comprehensive examination in physics which covers graduate-level mechanics, statistical mechanics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics. In addition, the student must pass (earning a "B" or better) thermodynamics and statistical mechanics (CHM 5460 or the equivalent), one other graduate-level physical chemistry course, and one special topics in physics (PHY 6938r) approved by the student's supervisory committee.
    3. The form of the examination proposed above is designed to make optimum use of the student's background while emphasizing the fundamental unity of the program.
    4. The oral portion of the comprehensive examination shall emphasize the area of the student's proposed research, but the student will also be expected to be familiar with basic concepts in chemical physics.
  2. Students will be required to present at least one seminar in the regular physical chemistry–chemical physics seminar series during their period of study for the master's or doctoral degree.
  3. The supervisory committee shall consist of a) the major professor who will be a member of the chemical physics faculty, b) three additional members of the chemical physics faculty (not all from the same area), and c) a graduate faculty representative not from the chemical physics faculty.

Definition of Prefix

PHY—Physics

Graduate Courses for Chemical Physics Majors

PHY 5971r. Thesis (3–6). (S/U grade only.) A minimum of six (6) semester hours credit is required.

PHY 6980r. Dissertation (1–12). (S/U grade only.)

PHY 8969r. Preliminary Doctoral Examination (0).

PHY 8976r. Master's Thesis Defense (0).

PHY 8985r. Dissertation Defense (0).