Syllabus for ASTR/PHYS 536-001 Advanced Astrophysics I
Instructor: Dinesh Loomba
This class is a 3-credit graduate course.
Meeting times: The class
will meet on M,W from 9:30-10:45 in room 5 of the PandA building.
Office Hours: by
appointment.
Book(s): None required but below
is an (abbreviated) list of books which may be useful to you:
- Bowers and Deeming 1984, ÒAstrophysics I
and IIÓ (2 volumes)
- Clayton, D. 1983,
"Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis"
- Binney,
J. and Merrifield, M. 1998, "Galactic astronomy"
- Hansen, C.J. and Cawaler, S.D. 1994, "Stellar interiors: physical
principles, structure, and evolution"
- Kippenhahn, R. and Weigert,
A. 1998, "Stellar Structure and Evolution"
- Chandrasekhar, S. "An introduction to the study of stellar
structure"
- Chandrasekhar, S. "Radiative Transfer"
- Rybicki, G.B. and Lightman,
A.P. 1979, "Radiative processes in
astrophysics"
- Bohm-Vitense, E.
ÒIntroduction to Stellar AstrophysicsÓ (3 volumes)
- Schwarzschild, M. 1958, "Structure and evolution of the stars"
- Shu, F.H., "The physics of astrophysics:
Gas dynamics (Vol. 2)"
- Binney, J. and Tremain,
S. 1987, "Galactic Dynamics"
- Duric, N. 2003,
ÒAdvanced AstrophysicsÓ
-
Padmanabhan, T, ÒTheoretical Astrophysics I, II, IIÓ,
a 3 volume set
As you can see, there are a lot of books in
Astrophysics! The books by Padmanabhan are the most
recent and well written, but highly theoretical. Other books on the list are
fairly specialized to specific topics (e.g. radiative
transfer). Some books on the list
are quite old but are included because they are classics. I will refer to sections of books (or
reviews) that form the basis of my lectures so that you may go to the source. Additionally I have access to lecture
notes in Astrophysics from various colleagues at other institutions. I will reference them when I use them.
Prequirements:
Graduate
Students: A solid foundation of
undergraduate Statistical Physics, Thermodynamics, E&M, Quantum Mechanics,
and Mathematics.
Preliminary outline of the course:
Astrophysics I (536) will largely cover
topics on the subject of stellar astrophysics. Here is an approximate list that I hope
to cover in chronological order:
- Introduction to stellar systems
- Protostar formation
- Models of stellar structure and basic theory of stellar
atmospheres
- Thermonuclear reactions & nuclei generation
- Stellar main sequence models
- Post-main sequence evolution
- Final stages of stellar systems (white dwarfs, supernovae,
neutron stars, pulsars, black holes)
- Nucleosynthesis (details of nuclei production in various stages of stellar
evolution)
As noted above, this is a rough list of
topics. It is also a rather long
list and we may not cover all this material during the semester.
Course grading:
a) Homeworks
~60%. There will be assignments
roughly every 2 weeks.
b) Final Project 40% - this will consist of a term paper and
a short talk given on the final paper topic. I will discuss the project in more
detail in class.
Besides these official contributions to
your grade the following will also contribute to your grade:
c) During class I may suggest a problem for
extra credit.
d) Questions will be raised during
class-time that won't be answered to everyone's satisfaction. Students who, by whatever means, return
with additional information that sheds light on the subject will be duly
rewarded!
e) Students are strongly encouraged to ask
questions, express skepticism, start discussions, and in general actively
participate in the course. If
there is a single motto to follow in this course, it is that there are no
"dumb" questions! If you
don't ask, you won't learn so please don't be shy.
Handouts
Homework assignments
HW1 due Monday 9/4 in
class
HW2 due Monday 10/2
in class
HW3 due Wednesday
10/18 in class
HW4 due Wednesday
11/8 in class
HW5 due Wednesday
11/22 in class