Astrophysics Primer
Prerequisites
No pre-requisites required. Mainly designed for the Ordinary Students of the third year, but also open to students of the fourth and fifth year.
Programme
The course provides a broad-spectrum introduction on the fundamental themes of astrophysics, which can potentially be preparatory to more specific courses of the master's degree or represent the basic background of every physicist on these subjects. The course will start from the discussion of the metrics used in astrophysics and astronomy, and will continue by deepening the fundamental points of stellar structure and evolution. The problems related to compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes will then be addressed. This will be followed by a general discussion of the properties of galaxies and the interstellar medium.
Educational aims
Provide a basic, sufficiently general but physically motivated picture of the main (astro)physical processes that regulate the formation, properties and evolution of stars, planets and galaxies.
Bibliographical references
- Carroll, B. W. & Ostlie, D. A. Modern Astrophysics
- Draine, B. T. Physics of the ISM and IGM
- Binney, J. & Tremaine, S. Galactic Dynamics
- Scharf, C. A. Extrasolar Planets and Astrobiology