Course:ASTR402/Syllabus

Week 1 - Basics of Radiative Transfer

Radiative transfer provides the accounting framework to understand the propagation of light through materials and empty space.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 1.

• Radiative Processes in Astrophysics, REF: Rybicki, G. B., Lightman, A. P. 1985, Chapter 1.

Week 2 - Electrodynamics

We review the equations of electrodynamics, examine the spectra and polarization of electromagnetic radiation in terms of the underlying electric and magnetic fields.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 2.

• Radiative Processes in Astrophysics, REF: Rybicki, G. B., Lightman, A. P. 1985, Chapter 2.

Week 3 - Making Radiation

How do moving charges produce radiation? Thomson scattering, radiation reaction, Rayleigh scattering too

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 3.

Week 4 - The Fast and the Furious : Special Relativity

How do particles act and radiate as they approach the speed of light? How do all the quantities that we worked so hard to define transform?

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 4.

Week 5 - Bremmstrahlung

How do really hot particles radiate?

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 5.

Week 6 - Synchrotron Radiation

Relativistic particles in a magnetic field produce broadband radiation.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 6.

Week 7 - Compton Scattering

Compton scattering is the scattering of electrons and photons when some energy get transferred between the two particles.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 7.

Week 8 - Atomic Structure

We have covered how more or less free electrons radiate. Many electrons (if not most) in the universe live in atoms.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 8.

Week 9 - Radiation from Atoms

How do atoms radiate?

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 9.

Week 10 - Molecular Structure

Molecules typically have many more degrees of freedom than the atoms from which they are composed, so they have many new ways to radiate!

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 10.

Week 11 - Fluid Mechanics

Now for a complete change of pace. Going from the microscopic to the macroscopic, let's examine the dynamics of fluids (gases usually astrophysically).

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 11.

Week 12 - Unsteady Flows and Some Applications of Fluid Mechanics

We look at shock waves and sound waves.

• Lecture Notes, REF: Heyl, J. S. 2005, Chapter 12.