Physics

An array of bright yellow hemispheres line the outside of a irregularly shaped dark metal chamber, with a lit transparent element at the bottom.

The inside of the Daya Bay Antineutrino Detector in China. (Image courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory on Flickr.)


The MIT Department of Physics has been a national resource since the turn of the 20th century.

Our Department has been at the center of the revolution in understanding the nature of matter and energy and the dynamics of the cosmos. Our faculty - three of whom hold Nobel Prizes and 21 of whom are members of the National Academy of Sciences - include leaders in nearly every major area of physics. World leaders in science and engineering, including 10 Nobel Prize recipients, have been educated in the physics classrooms and laboratories at MIT. Alumni of the MIT Department of Physics are to be found on the faculties of the world's major universities and colleges, as well as federal research laboratories and every variety of industrial laboratories.

Our undergraduates are sought both by industry and the nation's most competitive graduate schools. Our doctoral graduates are eagerly sought for postdoctoral and faculty positions, as well as by industry.

The MIT Physics Department is one of the largest in the nation, in part because it includes astronomy and astrophysics. Our research programs include theoretical and experimental particle and nuclear physics, cosmology and astrophysics, plasma physics, theoretical and experimental condensed-matter physics, atomic physics, and biophysics. Our students - both undergraduate and graduate - have opportunities to pursue forefront research in almost any area.

All undergraduate students at MIT study mechanics, electricity and magnetism. Beyond that, our physics majors pursue a program that provides outstanding preparation for advanced education in physics and other careers. Our undergraduates have unusual opportunities for becoming involved in research, sometimes working with two different groups during their four years at MIT.

In addition to courses, supplementary physics resources are also available. Various MIT faculty are openly sharing these resources as a service to OCW users.


Physics Courses

Course # Course Title Level
8.01 Physics I (Fall 2003) Undergraduate
8.012 Physics I: Classical Mechanics (Fall 2008) Undergraduate
8.01L Physics I: Classical Mechanics (Fall 2005) Undergraduate
8.01T Physics I (Fall 2004) Undergraduate
8.01X Physics I: Classical Mechanics with an Experimental Focus Undergraduate
8.02 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism (Spring 2007) Undergraduate
8.022 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism (Fall 2006) Undergraduate
8.022 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism (Fall 2004) Undergraduate
8.022 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism (Fall 2002) Undergraduate
8.02T Electricity and Magnetism Undergraduate
8.02X Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism with an Experimental Focus Undergraduate
8.03 Physics III Undergraduate
8.033 Relativity Undergraduate
8.04 Quantum Physics I Undergraduate
8.044 Statistical Physics I Undergraduate
8.05 Quantum Physics II Undergraduate
8.06 Quantum Physics III (Spring 2016) Undergraduate
8.06 Quantum Physics III (Spring 2005) Undergraduate
8.07 Electromagnetism II Undergraduate
8.08 Statistical Physics II Undergraduate
8.09 Classical Mechanics III Undergraduate
8.13-14 Experimental Physics I & II "Junior Lab" Undergraduate
8.20 Introduction to Special Relativity Undergraduate
8.21 The Physics of Energy Undergraduate
8.224 Exploring Black Holes: General Relativity & Astrophysics Undergraduate
8.225J Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century Undergraduate
8.231 Physics of Solids I Undergraduate
8.251 String Theory for Undergraduates Undergraduate
8.261J Introduction to Computational Neuroscience Undergraduate
8.282J Introduction to Astronomy Undergraduate
8.284 Modern Astrophysics Undergraduate
8.286 The Early Universe Undergraduate
8.311 Electromagnetic Theory Graduate
8.321 Quantum Theory I Graduate
8.322 Quantum Theory II Graduate
8.323 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I Graduate
8.324 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory II Graduate
8.325 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory III (Spring 2007) Graduate
8.325 Relativistic Quantum Field Theory III (Spring 2003) Graduate
8.333 Statistical Mechanics I: Statistical Mechanics of Particles Graduate
8.334 Statistical Mechanics II: Statistical Physics of Fields Graduate
8.351J Classical Mechanics: A Computational Approach Graduate
8.371J Quantum Information Science Graduate
8.395J Teaching College-Level Science and Engineering (Spring 2009) Graduate
8.395J Teaching College-Level Science and Engineering (Fall 2012) Graduate
8.421 Atomic and Optical Physics I Graduate
8.422 Atomic and Optical Physics II Graduate
8.511 Theory of Solids I Graduate
8.512 Theory of Solids II Graduate
8.513 Many-Body Theory for Condensed Matter Systems Graduate
8.514 Strongly Correlated Systems in Condensed Matter Physics Graduate
8.575J Statistical Thermodynamics of Complex Liquids Graduate
8.590J Topics in Biophysics and Physical Biology Graduate
8.591J Systems Biology (Fall 2014) Graduate
8.591J Systems Biology (Fall 2004) Graduate
8.592J Statistical Physics in Biology Graduate
8.594J Introduction to Neural Networks Graduate
8.613J Introduction to Plasma Physics I (Fall 2006) Graduate
8.613J Introduction to Plasma Physics I (Fall 2003) Graduate
8.701 Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics Graduate
8.811 Particle Physics II Graduate
8.821 String Theory and Holographic Duality (Fall 2014) Graduate
8.821 String Theory Graduate
8.851 Effective Field Theory Graduate
8.851 Strong Interactions: Effective Field Theories of QCD Graduate
8.871 String Theory and Holographic Duality (Fall 2014) Graduate
8.871 Selected Topics in Theoretical Particle Physics: Branes and Gauge Theory Dynamics Graduate
8.901 Astrophysics I Graduate
8.902 Astrophysics II Graduate
8.942 Cosmology Graduate
8.952 Particle Physics of the Early Universe Graduate
8.962 General Relativity Graduate

Archived Physics Courses

Some prior versions of courses listed above have been archived in OCW's DSpace@MIT repository for long-term access and preservation. Links to archived prior versions of a course may be found on that course's "Other Versions" tab.

Additionally, the Archived Physics Courses page has links to every archived course from this department.