Astronomy has fascinated human beings since pre-historic times. In this course we will focus on the physics of stars. We will review various moelds of physics and will see how different forces, ranging from microscopic forces on nuclear scales to the macroscopic forces of gravitation, conspire to govern the structure and evolution of stars. We will discuss the stellar life-cycle, starting with their birth in the interstellar gas and dust, through their "adulthood" on the Main-Sequence, and ending with their return to interstellar gas and dust, sometimes in processes as spectacular as supernovae, and sometimes leaving "corpses" as exotic as neutron stars and black holes.
Prof. Yuk Tung Liu
320 Searles Science Building
Tel.: (207) 798-4167
email: yliu2@bowdoin.edu
Office hour: Wednesday 4:00-5:00pm and by appointment
There is no required textbook for this course. The following two books are recommended reference books:
Lecture notes will be posted on Blackboard. Most of them are my hand-written notes. Some of them are typed up. These notes may not make sense to you before they are explained in class. Depending on time, we may not cover every topic in class. You are encouraged to make your own notes based on the posted notes and material discussed in class.
Weekly problem sets will be due each Wednesday at the beginning of class. As with all physics courses, you are strongly encouraged to work together on understanding the content of the of the homework problems. The work turned in, however, should be your own.
Grades will be given on an absolute scale, based on your accumulation of points. There will be weekly problem sets (counting for 30% of the final grade), two midterms (tentatively on 10/3 and 11/14, 20% each), and a final (12/16, 2:00pm, 30%). If you end up on the borderline between two grades, a number of other factors will decide whether you will get the higher or lower grade. These factors include consistency, effort and in-class participation.
Class times: MW 2:30pm - 3:55pm at Searles 313.
| Dates | Topics | Homework Due |
|---|---|---|
| Sep. 3 - 8 | Celestial Sphere, Magnitude and Luminosity | |
| Sep. 10 - 14 | Orbital Mechanics | 1 |
| Sep. 17 - 21 | Binary Stars | 2 |
| Oct. 1 - 5 | Atomic Processes and Spectrum, Midterm # 1 | 4 |
| Oct. 6 - 9 | Fall Break | |
| Oct. 10 - 12 | Ideal Gas, Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution | 5 |
| Oct. 15 - 19 | Mean Molecular Weight, Saha Equation | 6 |
| Oct. 22 - 26 | Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram, Opacity | 7 |
| Oct. 29 - Nov. 2 | Stellar Structure | 8 |
| Nov. 5 - 9 | Thermonuclear Reactions, Modeling Stellar Interiors | 9 |
| Nov. 12 - 16 | Formation of Stars, Midterm #2 | 10 |
| Nov. 19 - 20 | Stellar Evolution | |
| Nov. 21 - 25 | Thanksgiving Break | |
| Nov. 26 - 30 | White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars | 11 |
| Dec. 3 - 7 | General Relativity, Black Holes | 12, 13 |
| Dec. 16 | Final Exam at 2pm | |