Students work under the direction of a faculty sponsor to plan and carry out independent research resulting in a written thesis. Required for honors-in-major.

Introduction to the subject of space plasma physics including solar physics, heliospheric physics, magnetospheric physics, and ionospheric physics. The course provides an overview of the basic phenomena and processes (e.g. particle acceleration and transport, shock formation, magnetic structures and reconnection, wave propagation, wave-particle interactions, instabilities), theoretical techniques (e.g. single-particle orbits, kinetic and fluid descriptions), and experimental techniques. (Alternate years only.)

Individual project under direction of a faculty adviser.

Individual project under direction of a faculty adviser.