ELEMENTS OF ASTROPHYSICS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Full programme
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
The physics and mathematics learnt during the 3-year degree in Physics.
The final examination is an oral one, questions can cover the entire content of the course. The goal of the examination is to:
1. verify the proper knowledge and understanding of the topics covered in the classes;
2. show the student’s ability to critically assess issues in modern astrophysics;
3. verify the student’s ability to envisage possible, future developments in specific fields of astrophysics.
In order to pass the exam, the student must show to handle the basic concepts underlying the topics covered in the course. To pass the exam with a grade above 25/30, it is also required to find connections among different topics, and to earn full grade the student must further be able to provide personal, deep insight into the course content. The completion of the homework during the course will also be taken into account in the producing the final grade.
Astrophysics is a vast field, very popular among the general public. Given the extreme diversity in the cosmic phenomena studied, almost all the fields of physics find an application: atomic physics, nuclear physics, thermodynamics, classical mechanics, general relativity, hydrodynamics, statistical mechanics, and many more. Also, the mathematics involved comprises a variety of tools, from numerical solution of integro-differential equations, to advanced statistical methods.
The course is aimed to provide a broad introduction to classical and more recent topics in astrophysics, and the involved techniques, at a graduate level. The acquired knowledge will be instrumental in understanding many of the topics developed in the other characterizing courses in the master degree in Data Science for Astrophysics.
At the end of the course students will be able to:
• critically discuss the main topics in modern astrophysics and cosmology;
• read and understand most of the specialized literature in the field;
• asses critically the many still open issues in astrophysics;
• fruitfully follow other more specialized courses in the curriculum in Data Science for Astrophysics;
• develop personal research interests in the field of astrophysics.
• Stellar physics
• Stellar evolution
• Stellar remnants
• The interstellar medium and star formation
• Exoplanets
• The Milky Way and the Local Group
• Galaxy formation and evolution
• The Intergalactic Medium
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The course is organized in regular frontal lectures with solved exercises for each arguments. For a real-time verification of the level of understanding of the topics, during the course exercises will be also given as homework, to be solved in group. This activity will be also considered in the final evaluation of each student.
For any question, discussion, concern, etc, students are invited to contact the teacher at the following email: francesco.haardt@uninsubria.it