Spring 2019
Class Hours: 14:00 - 15:15 LeChase Hall 143
Prof: Eric Blackman, Bausch &Lomb 417A, 5-0537, blackman@pas.rochester.edu
Course Material and Texts:
This course will cover the physics of stellar interiors, stellar structure and stellar atmospheres, and some aspects of star formation.
There will be no required textbook but one useful book is by George W. Collins and is available in full online: G. W. Collins textbook "Fundamentals of Stellar Astrophyscs"
The chapter titles form a good outline for the material to be covered:
Chapter 1: Introduction and Fundamental Principles
Chapter 2: Basic Assumptions, Theorems, and Polytropes
Chapter 3: Sources and Sinks of Energy
Chapter 4: Flow of Energy through the Star and Construction of Stellar Models
Chapter 5: Theory of Stellar Evolution
Chapter 6: Relativistic Stellar Structure
Chapter 7: Structure of Distorted Stars
Chapter 8: Stellar Pulsation and Oscillation
Chapter 9: The Flow of Radiation Through the Atmosphere
Chapter 10: Solution of the Equation of Radiative Transfer
Chapter 11: Environment of the Radiation Field
Chapter 12: The Construction of a Model Stellar Atmosphere
Chapter 13: Formation of Spectral Lines
Chapter 14: Shape of Spectral Lines
Chapter 15: Breakdown of Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium
Chapter 16: Beyond the Normal Stellar Atmosphere
OTHER TEXTBOOKS FOR BACKGROUND AND SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL:
Modern Astrophysics (Carroll and Ostlie)
Stellar Structure and Evolution (Kippenhahn and Weigert)
Theoretical Astrophysics vol 2. (Padmanabhan)
Tapestry of Modern Astrophysics (Shore)
Physics of Fluids and Plasmas (Choudhuri)
Coursework:
This will be an informal and interactive course. Grading will be Pass/Fail.
REQUIRED WORK:
(1) Class Project (choose topic early: mid term and final presentations on topic along with final paper)
(2) homework problems and/or exam (s)
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