AY 123 Syllabus

Syllabus for Ay123, Stellar Structure and Evolution, Fall 2007

HKT=Hansen-Kawaler-Trimble
KW=Kippenhahn-Weigert

Week 1:

Narrative overview of stellar structure and
evolution; equation of hydrostatic equilibrium,
timescales
READING: HKT, Chs 1-2;
Kippenhahn-Weigert Chs. 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
READING: HKT, Chapter 4, 5;
Kippenhahn-Weigert, Chapters 5,9,17,20.

Week 3:

Physics of stellar matter: equations of state,
thermodynamic properties.
READING: HKT, Ch. 3; KW, Chs. 13, 14, 15, 16

Week 4:

nuclear reactions; atomic and isotopic abundances
READING: HKT, Ch. 6; KW, Ch 18

Week 5:

helio and asteroseismology, radial pulsations,
instability strip, diffusion
READING: HKT, Ch. 8; KW, Chs. 6, 7, 8.2.2, 10.3, 22.3, 30.4

Week 6:

advanced stages of nucleosynthesis; construction of
stellar models, numerical methods,
the role of boundary conditions, star formation,
pre-main sequence stars
READING: Clayton, Ch 7; HKT, Ch. 7; KW, Ch 10, 11,
19, 21.

Week 7:

structure and evolution of low-mass stars, and
applications, stellar atmospheres
READING: HKT, Ch. 9; KW, Chs. 22--33 (i.e., 12
chapters; its a lot, but you should at least browse
to be familiar with what's discussed, even if you
don't absorb all of it in detail); Gray, Ch. 9.

Week 8:

Structure and evolution of high-mass stars;
supernovae, neutron stars.
READING: HKT Ch. 9; KW Chs. 34, 36, 38, 39

Week 9:

Line formation, spectral analysis, stellar rotation
READING: Gray Ch. 11, 13, 15-18.

Week 10:

If time remains, topics to be selected from
simple stellar populations,
interacting binaries, roche lobe, stability of
mass transfer, accretion disks
READING: TBD, the book,
"Interacting Binary Stars," by Pringle and Wade
(Cambridge U. Press, 1985) is a good reference
for the latter set of issues.

Updated 11/8/2007

Week 1:	Narrative overview of stellar structure and evolution; equation of hydrostatic equilibrium, timescales READING: HKT, Chs 1-2; Kippenhahn-Weigert Chs. 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 READING: HKT, Chapter 4, 5; Kippenhahn-Weigert, Chapters 5,9,17,20.
Week 3:	Physics of stellar matter: equations of state, thermodynamic properties. READING: HKT, Ch. 3; KW, Chs. 13, 14, 15, 16
Week 4:	nuclear reactions; atomic and isotopic abundances READING: HKT, Ch. 6; KW, Ch 18
Week 5:	helio and asteroseismology, radial pulsations, instability strip, diffusion READING: HKT, Ch. 8; KW, Chs. 6, 7, 8.2.2, 10.3, 22.3, 30.4
Week 6:	advanced stages of nucleosynthesis; construction of stellar models, numerical methods, the role of boundary conditions, star formation, pre-main sequence stars READING: Clayton, Ch 7; HKT, Ch. 7; KW, Ch 10, 11, 19, 21.
Week 7:	structure and evolution of low-mass stars, and applications, stellar atmospheres READING: HKT, Ch. 9; KW, Chs. 22--33 (i.e., 12 chapters; its a lot, but you should at least browse to be familiar with what's discussed, even if you don't absorb all of it in detail); Gray, Ch. 9.
Week 8:	Structure and evolution of high-mass stars; supernovae, neutron stars. READING: HKT Ch. 9; KW Chs. 34, 36, 38, 39
Week 9:	Line formation, spectral analysis, stellar rotation READING: Gray Ch. 11, 13, 15-18.
Week 10:	If time remains, topics to be selected from simple stellar populations, interacting binaries, roche lobe, stability of mass transfer, accretion disks READING: TBD, the book, "Interacting Binary Stars," by Pringle and Wade (Cambridge U. Press, 1985) is a good reference for the latter set of issues.