PHYSICS 140A · PHYS 140AIntroduction to Solid-State Physics
Physics · 4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Introduction to basic theoretical concepts of solid-state physics with applications. Crystal symmetry; cohesive energy; diffraction of electron, neutron, and electromagnetic waves in a lattice; reciprocal lattice; phonons and their interactions; free electron theory of metals; energy bands.
Letter grading.
When it runs
- Fall 2025
- Fall 2026
Scheduled, not typical — from UCLA’s Schedule of Classes, which publishes Fall 2025 through Spring 2027 and nothing before it.
Requisites
Official UCLA wording
Enforced requisite: course 112.
BruinTree reads · Prerequisite
confidence 1.00 · from textRequires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
PHYSICS 140A
- PHYSICS 112Thermal Physics
- PHYSICS 115AQuantum Mechanics
- PHYSICS 115BQuantum Mechanics
- PHYSICS 105BAnalytic Mechanics
1 direct requisite. Showing 8 courses over 3 levels; the branches marked with a count carry on past it. Every course here opens its own tree.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
PHYSICS 140A
- PHYSICS 241ASolid-State Physics
- PHYSICS 241BSolid State Physics
- PHYSICS 241CSolid State Physics
- PHYSICS 242AAdvanced Solid-State Theory
- PHYSICS 242BAdvanced Solid-State Theory
- PHYSICS 242CTopology of Condensed Matter
1 course lists this as a requisite. The whole downstream is here — 11 courses over 3 levels. Every course here opens its own tree.