About course - General

Topic outline

  • Textbooks

    Radiative processes in astrophysics (Rybicki & Lightman 1979)
    Astrophysics for physicists (Choudhuri 2010)
    Stellar structure and evolution (Prialnik 2000)
    Black holes, White dwarfs and neutron stars (Shapiro & Teukolsky, 2004)
    High energy astrophysics (Longair 2011)

    • Lecture, Tutorial and office hours

      Office hours

      Name Day Hours Building/Room E-mail
      Yuri Lyubarsky By appointment - 54/322

      Lecture/Tutorial

      Group What? Name Day Hours Building/Room
      1 Lecture Yuri Lyubarsky Monday 14:00-17:00-90/140

      • Topics

        1. Description of the radiation field: flux, intensity, photon occupation number. Blackbody radiation. Brightness temperature.
        2. Opacity and emissivity. Kirchhoff law, detailed balance, Einstein coefficients.
        3. Equation of radiation transfer. Optical depth. Radiation diffusion.
        4. Bremsstrahlung and free-free absorption. Thomson scattering.
        5. Line spectrum and basics of atomic and molecular spectroscopy. Ionization and recombination.
        6. Radiation from relativistically moving sources. Synchrotron emission and absorption. Inverse Compton scattering.
        7. Basics of nuclear physics: strong, weak and electromagnetic interactions; nuclear binding energy.
        8. Stellar structure. Nuclear reactions in stars. Solar neutrino. Main sequence: pp and CNO cycles, mass-luminosity relation. Beyond the main sequence: helium burning and red giants.
        9. Final stages of stellar evolution. Properties of degenerate matter. Chandrasekhar limit. White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes.

        • Homework exercises


          • Course policy

            Five homework assignments will be given (roughly one per two weeks) and should be submitted.
            Final exam: strongly based on homework and class material.
            Final grade: 80%  exam, 20% assignments.

            • Additional materials