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2012

If the course PHYS 4803 (The Atomic Age) is ever offered again, I would encourage any math major to take it to fulfill the PHYS 3XXX requirement. It is a very interesting course as you learn about the physics, culture, and history behind the atomic bomb, and you study its impact on society as well. 

I took Classical Mechanics 1. I didn't enjoy it at all. I mean its a physics class and all but the math felt really disconnected. I took Class Mech 2 afterwards, which is not required but I took it because I was upset at how little I felt I learned in Class Mech 1. In CM2 there was a much more thorough build-up using first principles, and I felt that the math was approached with appropriate depth. I don't know if I would recommend CM1 but I would definitely recommend CM2.

I took classical mechanics 1 (physics 3201) with professor XXX and really enjoyed it.  The material really helps develop a since of deep understanding of newtonian mechanics. It was a little bit redundant with what had been learned in physics one, but overall it was a positive experience. 

I took quantum 1.  In my opinion pretty much every modern engineer or scientist should know at least some quantum since it is behind such a vast portion of our economy.  Plus it is very interesting.  I feel like it's the main event in modern science, so to speak.  I don't know how anyone can not be at least a little curious about it, and challenged by it.  In particular it is philosophically challenging, and challenges one's view of nature.

I took Quantum Mechanics I, which was an excellent class. A lot of the beginning is very math-based, since you're basically introducing a new vector space. In fact, this may be the physics class with the most math and least physics, in terms of actual work; I didn't need to know a terribly large amount of physics before taking this course (though Quantum II is different).

I just completed Phys 3201: Classical Mechanics this past Spring semester.  I really regret taking this course. I enjoyed my introduction to physics courses (especially phys 2212), and my sister is a physics major and raves about classical mechanics so I thought I would like it.  I was disappointed that this course was not more enjoyable to me.....For those who thought Phys 2211 was a breeze, this (PHYS 3201) might be a good course for them. ...PHYS 3201 requires a strong intuition about mechanics.


From an PHYS and MATH major:  Here are my opinions (a lot of them) on some PHYS 3XXX classes:  

PHYS 3122 Electro and Magnetostatics is a good choice (offered every fall). It's essentially applied multivariable and vector calculus. A good deal of the physics material should be familiar from Introductory Physics II (e.g. electric and magnetic fields), and almost all the necessary math comes from Calculus III (e.g. Stokes and Divergence Theorems). You do have to do a lot of computations though (like evaluating integrals, calculating gradients, solving PDEs by separation of variables). But it's one of the easier PHYS 3XXX classes overall, especially if you did well in Calculus III. However...[Steinbart's summary of student's comments: consider who is teaching the class.]
PHYS 3201 Classical Mechanics I (fall and spring) is another good choice. It's a rehash of the material from Introductory Physics I but with more advanced mathematical techniques including matrices, differential equations, and multivariable and vector calculus. It can really help consolidate your mechanics knowledge, and it's one of the easiest and most popular PHYS 3XXX classes. For these reasons, it also tends to fill up quickly. The continuation, PHYS 3202, is another great class, covering analytical mechanics and more advanced formulations. I don't know why, but these classes always seem to be taught by good professors.
PHYS 3143 Quantum Mechanics I (fall and spring) is considerably more difficult than the above classes. You MUST master linear algebra before attempting quantum mechanics (MATH 2406 will definitely help). It's also helpful to be familiar with probability and complex numbers before taking the class (they aren't prerequisites though). There's all kinds of advanced math in here, and you can learn a lot of good stuff. Just be prepared to spend a lot of time on problem sets. The continuation, PHYS 4143 Quantum Mechanics II, is also a good class to take, albeit an even more difficult one.  However... Steinbart's summary of student's comments: consider who is teaching the class.
PHYS 3141 Thermodynamics (used to be only spring, but now it's only fall?) is actually very rigorous and similar to an upper-level math class, at least when I took it. It's much deeper and richer than thermodynamics from general chemistry. You start with the "Laws of Thermodynamics" and some definitions, and you derive (prove) some nice results (theorems). The problems involve both computations (e.g. "How much heat is released in this process?") and proofs (e.g. "Show that the entropy can be written in this form."). It becomes pretty abstract towards the end, so math majors may feel at home in this class. You'll need to be comfortable with basic differential equations and calculus. As far as difficulty goes, Thermodynamics is middle-of-the-road, leaning toward the difficult side. At the time of writing, XXX teaches Thermodynamics each fall, and he's a great professor. Just be wary that the final is 50% of your grade.
For students who want to try something a little more exotic, PHYS 4146 Special Relativity is offered every spring. OSCAR says PHYS 3123 is a prerequisite, but it's actually not necessary at all and the instructor will let you take the class without any electromagnetism knowledge. The course is actually poorly named, because you only spend a few weeks on special relativity, and the remainder of the course is dedicated to general relativity. Mathematically, you get to learn some differential geometry, and the class is actually closer to the 3XXX level than the 4XXX one in my opinion.
I'd recommend any of these classes; you can't go wrong with any of them!

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2010
Classical Mechanics I: pretty good class, in a lot of ways just solving differential equations. Moderately interesting, would recommend.

Electro and Magneto Statics: Don't take it! For the most part it is setting up terrible integrals and struggling to evaluate them. Very dependent on
Calc III.

Quantum Mechanics I: Very cool class, my favorite I've taken at Tech! Problem sets are a big time commitment, and often do involve nasty integrals, but just remember: use even/odd function properties (integral -inf to inf of odd function is zero) and that e^i(theta) = cos(theta) + isin(theta) and life will be easier!
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2010
I'm a double major in physics and applied math. I've taken all the 3000 and 4000 level physics courses, here are my comments on them for a math major. 

electrostatics: This is a ton of vector calculus. Some of the calculations are tough but you don't have to derive much on your own. This is on the same level as classical mechanics if you want a good intro to bread and butter physics. Should be an easy C.

thermodynamics: Don't take this one. The only math involved is manipulating differentials, Lagengre transformations, and some simple differential equations. Mostly it's theoretical stuff that wouldn't interest a non-physics major. On the other hand, depending slightly on the teacher, you should be able to get a very easy B. 

quantum mechanics 1: This is my highest recommendations. I just love quantum. The math should be easy if you've had your calculus sequence, mostly the first course in quantum is solving differential equations with different boundary conditions and some pretty hairy Gaussian integrals, but the math isn't a big deal. The cool thing is the theory, which is based on linear algebra - I think everyone should take this course, just because it gives you a little view of how (we think) the world actually works, and if you're like me, some of it will blow your mind. Most of the advances in physics in the past 100 years are due to the simple theory you learn here. I really love quantum mechanics; take the second course while your at it  :)  You should be able to pull a B no sweat. 

classical mechanics 1: This is my second highest recommendation. If you just want to take a baby step away from intro physics, this is the next step. The math doesn't get worse than solving some differential equations, but mostly you're handed the solutions anyway. The generality of the theory is awesome. It's a little obnoxious studying one particular application for so long like harmonic oscillators and orbits, but you should be able to get an easy B. 

stellar astrophysics: I'm not a huge fan of astrophysics but take this if you're into it. The math isn't bad at all - not any worse than calculus. I wouldn't take it if I were you, you could get a really easy B though. 

mathematical physics: I wouldn't take this as a math major. If you want an easy A and don't want to learn anything you could, but you wont see a single thing you wont see in the math sequence. We did differential equations, complex analysis, and some physics applications. 

Don't be lame by taking the easiest course. Take quantum or classical mechanics and actually learn something about the world, or at least learn about what our understanding of the world is based on. By the way, if you like physics, just double major. There are only about 24 hours difference in the degrees - you're probably going to be here 4 or 5 years anyway. 
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I took Physics 3201, Classical Mechanics I.  I didn't particularly enjoy the class, but it also wasn't terrible.  The material is similar to that of Physics I and II, so nothing was new or too difficult.  In my professor's class, homework wasn't worth very much, but it was assigned every week, so that wasn't good.  If you did pretty well in Physics I and/or II, this is a pretty good class to take.  But if you are interested in learning something new and different in Physics, you may want to try a different class.
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I took Optics (PHYS 3232).  Overall, I would say it had minimal difficult math in it, but a good number of physics concepts to learn.  The workload isn't very much.  I don't know how much relative to other PHYS 3XXX, but I got the feel it is one of the lighter ones.  I would say this class is alright for math majors to take, but might not be the best/easiest/most interesting.  If its going to be offered and you have space and need to get physics out of the way, then its probably just as good as any, but I wouldn't recommend forgoing another class just for optics if you can procrastinate and take another PHYS 3XXX later.

The course material is fairly interesting and deals with the particle and wave properties of light.  Minimal physics background is required (knowing Maxwell's Equations beforehand might have been useful, but it was not critical).  The math involved in the class was fairly standard.  Calculus (maybe one differential equation or two) and some basic geometry/trig.  The only math used that math majors might not have seen before was Fourier transforms, and these were explained in detail in lecture when we got there.  Some of the physics concepts are counterintuitive and tricky, but not total "voodoo".

In terms of grades, there are three tests, homework, and a final "project", with each worth 25% after dropping the lowest test.  The grading on the three exams baffles me.  I went in knowing nothing about optics, and came out with 92, 72, and 98 (or something similar) on them.  The homeworks were reasonable and interesting.  The final project was to MAKE a powerpoint (presenting it was extra credit) about some subfield of optics that interests you and wasn't thoroughly covered in lecture.  Overall, it is a reasonable class

It has an accompanying lab that is not required.  I didn't take the lab.  From what I heard it gave great hands-on experience, but the lab was often way ahead of the lectures. 
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I took Introduction to Electrostatics and I believe the course number was 3012 (not sure about that), but it was easier then other physics courses that I have taken and it was heavily Math based (a lot of multivariate calculus involved). I think I would recommend other people to take that class.
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I took Intro to Quantum, Summer 2005.  It was a good class, and I recommend it -- its basically math under a thin disguise.  Important prerequisites are namely the ability to compute the inner product of two functions, for example, on the basis of the Lebesgue polynomials, or else e^i(jx)'s.  Knowing what a Hilbert space is will also help.
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I have taken PHYS3143 (Quantum Mechanics I) & I think it is a good course for Applied Math majors since it involves a lot of applications to probability & linear algebra.
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Here is also my advice for double majors in ECE and Applied Math. ECE students are required to take a science elective, but there is some restriction on PHYS elective they can take; only PHYS3143, PHYS3151 (Mathematical Physics), PHYS3265 (Acoustics), PHYS3803 (Optics) are allowed to take among 3XXX PHYS electives. If they are interested in electronics, I would suggest them to take quantum mechanics since ECE curriculum does not cover it very much, even though quantum mechanics is necessary to understand today's digital/analog electronics devices in deep level.
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I am taking a few PHYS 3XXX courses at present. of the three Quantum  Mechanics seems like it varies a lot depending on who teaches it. It is also 
a rather difficult course on par with Analysis 1. Electrostatics is an OK course especially since the professor I have currently seems to be willing to put in some effort in order to assure understanding. Electrostatics and Quantum Mechanics both require a decent bit of calculus and some more advanced math. Stellar Astrophysics is the third course I am in. It is easier than the other two and requires less advanced mathematics, but it is  also more fun, especially for students interested in the universe on a  macroscopic level.
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I took Physics 3122? Electrostatics and Magnetism.  I did not enjoy the class at all because it was very Calc. 3 based and I have a rough time with Calc. 3. Also the professor use Fourier series which I had not been introduced to yet. Mainly because the physics was a 3xxx course and fourier series are first introduce in 4317?  The book wasn't particularly good.  I've talk to other people who've taken it also and they said it was pretty hard.  I definitely would recommend math majors not taking this course instead taking something like classical physics or thermal dynamics?
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	I am currently taking physics 3151, mathematical physics.  The class is supposed to teach physics majors the different types of math that they will need for future physics classes.  The topics covered in my class are complex analysis, linear algebra, diffeq, and integral transformations.  I like this course, mainly because it is easy since I have already seen all of these topics in previous courses.  The one bad thing is that there are not a lot of applications of the math, such as physics problems.  This class is about 98% math, and 2% physics.
	I would highly suggest this class to students who have not taken complex analysis, linear algebra or diffeq since they could get a taste of all of those topics before actually taking the class.  (I think diffeq is a pre-req though).  Also, if a student has already taken all of these classes, they could get a review of all of the topics (everything makes more sense the 2nd time).  Consequently, a student who has already taken the different courses will not learn anything new, and in my case, will not learn any applications of the math. 
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I took PHYS 3141 (Thermodynamics) and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'd definitely recommend it as a PHYS 3XXX elective.
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I took Thermodynamics last semester which is a 3XXX Physics course.  I chose it because I did well in chemistry based thermodynamics and I thought it would be similar.  But, more often, it was quite different.  I had trouble since I didn't know many of the variables and the meanings yet I think that any 3XXX Physics course would be like that if you only have taken the introductory courses.  It often referred to concepts from the quantum physics course that I had not taken which may or may not be more difficult or interesting.  I know that in the end, I did better than most of the physics students in there because it involved a lot of equation manipulation which was easy once you figured out most of the terms in the word problems and the symbol values.

I had about a 70 in the course but I received an A.  Several physics majors told me they had 40s here.  I had professor XXX as well and I thought he was a pretty outstanding teacher.  When he writes on the board, it is well organized and easy to take notes and he also let us use our notes on the quizzes and tests so that even if you didn't know the equations and symbols by heart like the physics majors might, you could find them in your notes and apply them easily enough.
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I am taking Physics 3021 (Stellar Astrophysics)(Fall 05). It's a neat class. There are 3 tests + 1 final. The Hw is reasonable and the material is interesting. We are also doing a big group project and some of us visited Fernbank for extra credit.  The professor is Dr. XXX and I think that he is the only Astronomer at Georgia Tech.
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I took PHYS 3141 - Thermodynamics.  From what I understand from the physics students, my professor (Dr. XXX) was one of the easier ones to have for the course.  At the beginning of the semester, Dr. XXX said something to the effect of 'thermodynamics involves so many different concepts from physics that it will be one of most difficult courses you take while at Tech.'  I about dropped the course that day.  The whole course is just deriving equations.  That's even what the tests were like-- 'show that such-and-such can be calculated with this equation'  i.e.  thermodynamic proofs.  i personally didn't enjoy the class very much and thought it was pretty difficult.  I got an A, but I think that had more to do with the leniency of the professor than my grasp of the material.

I've heard that Electrostatics is way easier.  From what I can tell, thermodynamics is one of the most difficult phys 3xxx courses a math student can take.
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I don't really have a clue which one i should take.  I don't know  anything about them really. I have heard that PHYS 3122 - Electrostatics  and Magnetostatics is suppose to be a good class though.
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