Readings for Astro 160:
Stellar Physics
Books
I will not follow any book all that closely. There
is
unfortunately no book that covers both the physics of stellar
structure, the physics of stellar evolution, and the physics of compact
objects at an appropriate level. It is thus very important
for
you to attend lecture and take notes. In many cases, I suspect
that
you will not be able to do the homework problems based on the book
material alone.
The primary books are The Physics of Stars by A.C. Phillips and An Introduction to the Theory of Stellar
Structure and Evolution by Dina Prialnik
Phillips does a great job of explaining the basic physics of
stars. It does not, however, go into sufficient depth on
a
number of topics (e.g., convection). In addition, it
has
little to no material on stellar evolution, although it does cover much
of the physics required to understand the evolution of stars.
Prialnik covers much of the material that Phillips lacks.
Less Technical References: The Physical Universe by Frank Shu
and Modern Astrophysics by Carroll & Ostlie
More Technical References: If you find yourself particularly
interested in some of this material, there are a number of excellent
more advanced books. Some of these are listed here in case
you
would like to pursue certain topics in more detail.
Clayton, Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis
(particularly good for nuclear physics)
Kippenhahn & Weigert, Stellar Structure and Evolution (more
details for stellar evolution)
Shapiro & Teukolsky, Black Holes, White Dwarfs, &
Neutron Stars
(compact objects)
Shu, Physics of Astrophyiscs Vol II: Gas Dynamics (some hydrodynamics
background)
Hansen & Kawaler, Stellar Interiors (the whole shebang)
Topics & Reading
This course
will cover the observations and physics of stars. Primary topics will
include the structure of self-gravitating objects, energy transport in
stars, nuclear fusion in stars, stellar evolution, the birth of
compact objects, and stellar oscillations.
The course will emphasize physical
understanding and
basic principles. No previous coursework on stars is
required. The course will make significant use of
thermodynamics,
statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and some aspects of fluid
mechanics, but I will try to review the key physics when necessary.
- Introduction and Overview -- Observations of stars;
structure
formation and nucleosynthesis; outstanding problems
- 8/28: Read all of Ch. 1 of Phillips, which
provides an
excellent overview of some of the
basic ideas that we will be dealing with in this course.
Don't
worry about all of the details or derivations for now -- I just want
you to get a feel for the material. This is
particularly important for those of you who have not taken a course on
Stars before. Ch. 1 of
Prialnik is also a useful introduction.
- Force Balance in Stars -- Hydrostatic equilibrium; The Virial Thm. for stars
- 9/2 & 9/4: Phillips Ch. 1.2 (hydrostatic equilibrium & the virial theorem); 2.1 (ideal
classical gas); 2.3 (photon gas). See also 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, & 3.5 of Prialnik
- Energy Transport in Stars by Radiation & Conduction -- the Eddington Limit; Thompson Scattering
- 9/9 & 9/11: Phillips 1.4 (excluding the fusion section); 3.1. See also Prialnik 3.7 (after Exercise 3.3), 5.5
- Energy Transport in Stars by Convection -- Polytropes, Fully Convective Stars, the Hayashi Line
- 9/16, 9/18 & 9/23:
Phillips 3.2 & 3.3; Phillips is particularly lacking details about this
material, so also read Prialnik 2.2 (the energy equation), 3.6
(adiabiticity), 6.5, 6.6 (convection), & 5.3 (polytropes)
- Star Formation & Pre-Main Sequence Evolution; Kelvin-Helmholz Contraction
- 9/25: Phillips 1.3 (excluding "conditions for stardom"); also read Prialnik 10.1, 10.2
- Energy Generation in Stars: Nuclear Fusion, the pp chain, & the CNO cycle
- 9/30, 10/2, 10/7, 10/9:
Basic Physics of Fusion; Phillips 1.4 (the fusion section), 1.5,
4.1, 4.2; we will derive in more detail several of the results
that Phillips simply quotes; optional additional reading is Prialnik 4.1-4.4. The handout in
class covers the derivations that Phillips and Prialnik largely skip.
This is from a graduate-level text so it is optional reading.
- The Origin of the Main Sequence and the Minimum and Maximum Masses of Stars
- 10/14, 10/16, 10/21, 10/28:
Read Phillips 5.1 on equations of stellar structure; 2.1
& 2.2 on ideal classical and quantum (degenerate) gases; 5.4
on the min. & max. masses of stars; optional reading in Prialnik is 8.2;
7.4 (section 7.4 is a slightly
more formal way of motivating/using the scaling arguments that I have
been doing in lecture and that you will do on the homework).
- Stellar Atmospheres and Stellar Spectral Types; the Boltzmann & Saha Equations
- 10/30, 11/4: Phillips 2.4 & 2.5
- The Evolution of Low Mass Stars
- 11/11, 11/13, 11/18:
Prialnik 8.5 on Red Giants; also scan 8.6 on 8.7 on the AGB
branch & mass-loss; Phillips 4.3 on He Fusion
- 11/20: Phillips 6.1 & 3.4
- Stellar Evolution in Massive Stars; Core-collapse Supernovae (SN)
- 12/2: Phillips 2.6 & 4.4; Prialnik 8.9
- 12/4: Phillips 6.2; Prialnik 9.1, 9.2