The branch direction of physics major in American universities;
I. condensed matter physics
Condensed matter physics can be said to be a branch of physics, with various categories, rich contents, rapid development and wide application, and has now become an extremely active research field in physics. The research directions of condensed matter physics include semiconductors, magnetism, superconductors and some materials, so many students who are interested in related research directions will apply for condensed matter physics. Therefore, in terms of the number of applications, condensed matter physics is the hottest in physics. Moreover, from the perspective of applying for scholarships, this branch is also relatively easy to get scholarships. As long as the background is relatively matched, it is relatively easy for applicants with better conditions to get scholarships. Some schools will divide condensed matter physics into theoretical condensed matter and experimental condensed matter. Compared with theoretical condensed matter, there will be more applicants for experimental condensed matter.
Two. Optical physics
Optical physics in many American universities is set by atoms and molecules, including quantum optics, nonlinear optics, high-resolution spectroscopy and so on. This direction is also one of the main application directions of China physics applicants, but compared with condensed matter physics, the number of applicants in this direction is not as much as that of condensed matter physics, and the scholarship is slightly weaker than that of condensed matter physics. For applicants applying for this direction, EE is also an alternative direction.
Three. biophysics
Biophysics is a new interdisciplinary subject which is produced by the combination of physics and biology, and it is one of the fastest developing directions of contemporary natural science. Biophysics is a science that mainly uses the theories, techniques and methods of physics to study the physical properties of biological substances, the physical and physicochemical laws of life processes and the mechanism of physical factors on biological systems. The content of biophysics research is very extensive, involving almost all the basic problems of biology. In recent years, the development trend of biophysics focuses on the intersection with broader disciplines, such as mathematics and informatics. This direction is a new interdisciplinary subject in recent two years. Applicants are not only physics majors, but also biology majors, so the competition is very fierce, and the annual Offer is relatively small.
Four. Astrophysics, astronomy and cosmology
These directions are mature in physics. Although there are many opportunities to get scholarships in this direction, from the application data, there are not many students applying for this direction in the past two years.
Verb (abbreviation for verb) high energy physics
High-energy physics, also known as particle physics or elementary particle physics, is a basic branch of physics and one of the frontiers of contemporary physics development. Particle physics is based on experiment, and also on the close combination of experiment and theory.
Computational physics of intransitive verbs
Computational physics is a new frontier discipline among computer science, computational mathematics and physics, and it is recognized as the third pillar of physics alongside theoretical physics and experimental physics. To successfully apply for this direction, applicants need to have a good background in physics, mathematics and computer.
Seven. applied physics
Applied physics is also the direction chosen by many physics students. At present, this direction has been merged into EE in many universities, some have become a department alone, and some applied physics majors have been merged into the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Therefore, there are not many schools with applied physics under physics major, but this research direction is relatively easy from the difficulty of admission.
The above is a detailed description of the direction of physics major in American universities, hoping to help the applicants.