Site last updated September 28, 2013.
The syllabus is subject to minor changes, so we may not cover material at exactly the listed times.
HKT = Hansen, Kawaler, & Trimble
KWW = Kippenhahn & Weigert
| Topics | Reading | |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Overview of stellar properties and evolution, equation of hydrostatic equilibrium, virial theorem, timescales. | HKT Chapters 1-2 KWW Chapters 1-4 Chapters 3 and 5 in Binney and Merrifield's Galactic Astronomy may also be useful. |
| Week 2 | Introduction to basic equations of stellar structure, polytropes and homology relations, radiative and conductive heat transport, opacities and energy generation. | HKT Chapters 4, 5 KWW Chapters 5,7,17,19. |
| Week 3 | Physics of stellar matter: equations of state, thermodynamic properties. | HKT Chapter 3 KWW Chapters 13-16 |
| Week 4 | Nuclear reactions, atomic and isotopic abundances. | HKT Chapter 6 KWW Chapter 18 |
| Week 5 | Helio and asteroseismology, radial pulsations, instability strip, diffusion. | HKT Chapter 8 KWW Chapters 29, 31 |
| Week 6 | Advanced stages of nucleosynthesis, construction of stellar models, numerical methods, the role of boundary conditions, star formation, pre-main sequence stars. | Clayton Chapter 7 HKT Chapter 7 KWW Chapters 10-12, 28 |
| Week 7 | Structure and evolution of low-mass stars, and applications, stellar atmospheres. | HKT Chapter 9 KWW Chapters 30-33 |
| Week 8 | Structure and evolution of high-mass stars, supernovae, neutron stars. | HKT Chapter 9 KWW Chapters 34-36 |
| Week 9 | Line formation, spectral analysis, stellar rotation. | Gray Chapters 11, 13, 15-18 |
| Week 10 | If time remains, topics to be selected from: The first stars in the Universe, hypernovae and other rare events, stellar magnetism. |
TBD |
Site last updated September 28, 2013.