The Department of Theoretical Physics was founded in 1935. In 1935-1941, this department was run by prof. A.E. Levashov, academician of 1941-1957. S.U.Umarov, 1957-1965 years prof. GM Avakyants, 1965-1967 prof. A. Teshaboev, 1967-1972 years prof. R.H. Mallin, 1972-2005 academician. M.M. Musakhanov was the director. From 2005 to 2016, the Department of Theoretical Physics was merged with the Department of Nuclear Physics and the Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics was established. In 2016, the Department of Theoretical Physics was separated as a separate department, and starting from May 2017, Acad. M.M. Musakhanov is leading.

With the arrival of M.M. Musakhanov to the department, among the scientific research conducted here on the physics of semiconductors, scientific research works in new directions such as high energy physics, collision of atoms and nuclei, and the interaction of radiation with the environment began. The establishment of scientific relations with large scientific centers with great potential: United Institute of Nuclear Research (YaTBI, Russia, Dubna), Institute of Physics named after Lebedev (RFA FI, Moscow) created the basis for active research. At the initiative of M.M. Musakhanov, new special courses for theoreticians such as quantum chromodynamics, theory of elementary particles, theory of calibrated fields were introduced into the educational process. Close relations with YaTBI gave students and graduates of the department an opportunity to attend a large scientific school in Dubna. Leading theoreticians were invited to the department to give lectures. As a result, the demand for graduates of the department increased in the scientific centers of the world, the popularity of the department spread not only to Uzbekistan, but also to Georgia.
The new era of the Department of Theoretical Physics began after the independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The field of scientific research of the department includes elementary particle physics and quantized field theory (M.M. Musakhanov, B.A. Fayzullaev, U. Yakhshiev, A. Karimkhodzhaev), theoretical nuclear physics (B.F. Irgaziev), interaction of radiation with matter (P.E. Pyak), nonlinear includes the theory of wave processes (A.A. Abdumalikov, A.S. Rakhmatov, H.N. Ismatullaev), the theory of physics of condensed states (M.M. Musakhanov, B. Abdullaev).
In terms of personnel training, the field of theoretical physics has a special place in the faculty of physics. The creative team of the department headed by Professor A.A. Abdumalikov created a four-volume book in the Uzbek language on the theoretical physics course in 2008-2011 (B.A. Fayzullayev Theoretical Mechanics, A.A. Abdumalikov Electrodynamics, M.M. Musakhanov, A.S. Rahmatov Quantum mechanics, A.A. Abdumalikov, R. Mamatkulov Thermodynamics and statistical physics) textbook was published. In 2014, the textbooks Mathematical Physics Methods (B.A. Fayzullayev, A.S. Rahmatov) and Mathematical Methods of Theoretical Physics (B.A. Fayzullayev) for masters were published. The department is proud of its highly qualified professors and teachers.
Modern university education process cannot be imagined without ICT components. It is the efforts made to establish these components, scientific and technical solutions, the methodology of creating modern electronic educational literature and the establishment of an electronic shell, and the activities of professors and teachers and students in the electronic environment. extensive research is reflected in the pedagogical activity of the members of the department (A.Karimkhodjaev). It is no secret that the process of informatization is fundamentally different from the process of computerization, and therefore it is a process that requires a lot of money. In this regard, under the leadership of associate professor A.Karimkhodjaev, computer networks were created not only at UzMU, but also at the Student Campus and the Doctors’ Campus, using 12 grants from international donors (total: 825,000 euros and 240,000 US dollars), including TEMPUS (European Union), UNESCO grants.
The Open Educational Information Center with a total of 120 computers and equipped with modern servers was launched (A.Karimkhodjaev, A.S.Rakhmatov), ​​the UNESCO Department of Astronomy and Physics was established and is operating (M.M. Musakhanov, A.S.Rakhmatov).