Principles of astrophysics using gravity and stellar physics to explore the cosmos Charles Keeton

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keeton, Charles, author.

Series:

Undergraduate lecture notes in physics 2192-4791

Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics 2192-4791

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astrophysics.

astrophysics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York, NY Springer 2014

Summary:

This book gives a survey of astrophysics at the advanced undergraduate level. It originates from a two-semester course sequence at Rutgers University that is meant to appeal not only to astrophysics students but also more broadly to physics and engineering students. The organization is driven more by physics than by astronomy; in other words, topics are first developed in physics and then applied to astronomical systems that can be investigated, rather than the other way around. The first half of the book focuses on gravity. Gravity is the dominant force in many astronomical systems, so a tremendous amount can be learned by studying gravity, motion and mass. The theme in this part of the book, as well as throughout astrophysics, is using motion to investigate mass. The goal of Chapters 2-11 is to develop a progressively richer understanding of gravity as it applies to objects ranging from planets and moons to galaxies and the universe as a whole. The second half uses other aspects of physics to address one of the big questions. While 'Why are we here?' lies beyond the realm of physics, a closely related question is within our reach: 'How did we get here?' The goal of Chapters 12-21 is to understand the physics behind the remarkable story of how the Universe, Earth and life were formed. This book assumes familiarity with vector calculus and introductory physics (mechanics, electromagnetism, gas physics and atomic physics); however, all of the physics topics are reviewed as they come up (and vital aspects of vector calculus are reviewed in the Appendix). This volume is aimed at undergraduate students majoring in astrophysics, physics or engineering

Contents:

Introduction: Tools of the Trade

Part I: Using Gravity and Motion to Measure Mass

Celestial Mechanics

Gravitational One-Body Problem

Gravitational Two-Body Problem

Tidal Forces

Gravitational Three-Body Problem

Extended Mass Distributions: Spiral Galaxies.-N-Body Problem: Elliptical Galaxies

Bending of Light by Gravity

Relativity

Cosmology: Expanding Universe

Part II: Using Stellar Physics to Explore the Cosmos

Planetary Atmospheres

Planetary Temperatures

Stellar Atmospheres.-Nuclear Fusion

Stellar Structure and Evolution

Stellar Remnants

Charting the Universe with Stars

Star and Planet Formation

Cosmology: Early Universe.- Part III: Appendices

Appendix A: Technical Background

Appendix B: Solutions

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed May 16, 2014)

Other Format:

Printed edition:

ISBN:

9781461492368

146149236X

1461492351

9781461492351

OCLC:

879846815

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license