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Theoretical Astrophysics

Lecturers: Ralf Klessen
ZAH/ITA, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, 69120 Heidelberg
Time and Location: Tuesday, 9:00 - 10:45 hours, Philosophenweg 12 -- Grand Lecture Hall
Thursday, 9:00 - 10:45 hours, Philosophenweg 12 -- Grand Lecture Hall
Detailed Schedule: The detailed schedule can be found HERE. Lectures will be held in English.
Topics: Theoretical formulation of fundamental processes in astrophysics:
  • Hydrodynamics: derivation of equations of hydrodynamics; virial theorem; ideal and viscous fluids; hydrostatic equilibria; sound waves; supersonic flows and shocks; hydrodynamic instabilities; convection and turbulence;
  • Plasma Physics: equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics; ambipolar diffusion (non-ideal MHD); Alfven waves; collisionless plasma; dispersion relations; longitudinal waves and Landau damping;
  • Stellar Dynamics: timescales; relaxation processes; Jeans equation; virial theorem for N-body systems; equilibria and stability of self-gravitating systems; dynamical friction; Fokker Planck approximation;
  • Radiation: macroscopic radiation field; emission, absorption, and scattering; radiative transport equations; bremsstrahlung and synchrotron radiation; ionization and recombination; spectra;
Tutorials: Monday,16:00 - 18:00 hours, Philosophenweg 12 -- Grand Lecture Hall
Tuesday, 11:00 - 13:00 hours, Philosophenweg 12 -- New Lecture Hall
The homework assignments can be downloaded HERE.
Literature: At this LINK you find a list of recommended books for this course.
Credits: In order to get credits for this course, you have to solve 60% of the homework problems and pass the final exam. Homework assignments can be solved in groups of up to three people.
Module: This is the master module MKTP2. It corresponds to 8 credit points or a workload of 240 hours.
Certificates and Grades: The certificates of this course ("Scheine") for all students are available at the secretaries office of the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2., and can be picked up any time. The credits for bachelor and master students will be directly added to the transcript. The results of the final exam are available HERE.

 

Responsible: Simon Glover, last modification Sep/25/2011 16:59 CEST
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