The Department of Physics offers undergraduate degrees in the following programs: Physics, Applied Physics, Physics and Physiology, Mathematical Physics and Chemical Physics. The department also offers Master’s and Ph.D. degree programs.
The Department’s courses and research areas are:
- Condensed matter physics: surface science, layered structures, thin films, interfaces, condensed matter theory, soft condensed matter systems, physics and chemistry of materials for storage, nanostructures, semiconductor physics, superconductivity.
- Mathematical and theoretical physics: statistical and thermal physics, computational physics, nonlinear physics, non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, group theory, quantum mechanics, relativity theory, gravitational cosmology, super string theory.
- Electromagnetism: magnetic resonance, synchrotron radiation, plasma physics.
- Light and optics: applied optics, non-linear optics, quantum optics, optical spectroscopy, light scattering.
- High energy physics: experimental high energy physics, lattice gauge theory, the standard model, superstrings and beyond.
- Biophysics: theoretical, experimental , mathematical.
- Astronomy: astronomy, astrophysics,celestial mechanics, cosmology.
Collection intensity
- 4 Research Level
- A collection that contains the major published source materials required for doctoral study and independent research includes:
- A very extensive collection of general and specialized monographs and reference works.
- A very extensive collection of general and specialized periodicals.
- Extensive collections of appropriate foreign language materials.
- Extensive collections of the works of well-known authors as well as lesser-known authors.
- Defined access to a very extensive collection of owned or remotely accessed electronic resources, including bibliographic tools, texts, data set, journals, etc.
- Older material that is retained and systematically preserved to serve the needs of historical research.
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Section on Acquisition and Collection Development. (2001). Guidelines for a Collection Development Policy Using the Conspectus Model.
- A collection that contains the major published source materials required for doctoral study and independent research includes:
- Collection development is the responsibility of the Physics Liaison Librarian. Liaison with the Physics Department is maintained through the Departmental Representative as well as with other faculty members when required. Regular contact with other liaison librarians and teaching departments is nurtured through the sharing of relevant review material.
SFU resources
- The W.A.C. Bennett Library is the major location for the SFU's physics collection.
Regional resources
- The University of British Columbia also has a large physics collection comprehending many branches of the discipline.
Consortia and document delivery
- SFU belongs to three consortia:
- Electronic Library Network;
- Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries
- Canadian Association of Research Libraries.
- Document delivery agreements exist with all three of these consortia which allow delivery of journals, articles and books from these libraries in a timely manner
- Holdings and direct requesting from another 40+ libraries are accessible through the Interlibrary Loan webpage and from many databases.
- SFU is also an partner in the Canadian Research Knowledge Network.
General collection guidelines
- Language: the emphasis is on the acquisition of materials in English.
- Treatment of subject: practical, computer/programming apl, statistical/math treatmnt, general.
- Types of materials: collecting is split between monographs and journals with a preference for ordering online-only journals whenever possible.
- Date of Publication: emphasis is on current publications. Retrospective acquisitions are normally for the replacement of important titles which have deteriorated or disappeared.