The Department of Physics maintains cutting-edge research programs in theoretical and experimental aspects of a diverse array of disciplines, including astrophysics and cosmology, biophysics, condensed-matter and materials physics, high energy physics and elementary particles, gravity and general relativity, and mathematical physics.  There are close ties and cross-disciplinary efforts with several other Departments and Research Organizations on Campus, including the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, the California NanoSystems Institute, the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, the Institute for Terahertz Science and Technology, Los Cumbres Observatory, and others.  Research is done both on Campus and at a wide range of national and international facilities, such as the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea and the Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva.

The Department offers the BA and BS in Physics, Minors in Physics and in Astronomy and Planetary Science, and the MA and the PhD in Physics. A wide range of research opportunities is available to students at all levels.