TY - BOOK AU - Harwit,Martin TI - Astrophysical concepts SN - 0387329439 U1 - 523.01 PY - 2006/// CY - New York PB - Springer KW - Astrophysics KW - Astrofysica KW - Astrofísica N1 - 1 An Approach to Astrophysics 1 -- 1:1 Channels for Astronomical Information 3 -- 1:2 X-Ray Astronomy: Development of a New Field 5 -- 1:3 The Appropriate Set of Physical Laws 9 -- 1:4 The Formation of Stars 10 -- 1:5 The Hertzsprung-Russell and Color-Magnitude Diagrams 12 -- 1:6 The Birth of Low-Mass Stars 15 -- 1:7 Massive Stars 18 -- 1:8 The Late Stages of Stellar Evolution 18 -- 1:9 Abundance of the Chemical Elements in Stars and the Solar System 24 -- 1:10 Origin of the Solar System 29 -- 1:11 The Galaxy and the Local Group 36 -- 1:12 The Formation of Large-Scale Structures 38 -- 1:13 Black Holes 42 -- 1:14 Magnetohydrodynamics and Turbulence 43 -- 1:15 Problems of Life 44 -- 1:16 Unobserved Astronomical Objects 45 -- 2 The Cosmic Distance Scale 53 -- 2:1 Size of the Solar System 53 -- 2:2 Trigonometric Parallax 54 -- 2:3 Spectroscopic Parallax 54 -- 2:4 Superposition of Main Sequences 54 -- 2:5 RR Lyrae Variables 56 -- 2:6 Cepheid Variables 56 -- 2:7 Novae and HII Regions 57 -- 2:8 Supernovae 57 -- 2:9 The Tully-Fisher and Faber-Jackson Relations 57 -- 2:10 Distance-Red-Shift Relation 58 -- 2:11 Distances and Velocities 60 -- 2:12 Seeliger's Theorem and Number Counts in Cosmology 60 -- Problems Dealing with the Size of Astronomical Objects 63 -- 3 Dynamics and Masses of Astronomical Bodies 67 -- 3:1 Universal Gravitational Attraction 67 -- 3:2 Ellipses and Conic Sections 70 -- 3:3 Central Force 71 -- 3:4 Two-Body Problem with Attractive Force 72 -- 3:5 Kepler's Laws 73 -- 3:6 Determination of the Gravitational Constant 77 -- 3:7 The Concept of Mass 80 -- 3:8 Inertial Frames of Reference -- The Equivalence Principle 82 -- 3:9 Gravitational Red Shift and Time Dilation 83 -- 3:10 Measures of Time 84 -- 3:11 Uses of Pulsar Time 86 -- 3:12 Galactic Rotation 86 -- 3:13 Scattering in an Inverse Square Law Field 88 -- 3:14 Stellar Drag 90 -- 3:15 Virial Theorem 92 -- 3:16 Stability Against Tidal Disruption 94 -- 3:17 Lagrangian Equations 96 -- 4 Random Processes 105 -- 4:1 Random Events 105 -- 4:2 Random Walk 106 -- 4:3 Distribution Functions, Probabilities, and Mean Values 111 -- 4:4 Projected Length of Randomly Oriented Rods 112 -- 4:5 The Motion of Molecules 115 -- 4:6 Ideal Gas Law 118 -- 4:7 Radiation Kinetics 120 -- 4:8 Isothermal Distributions 121 -- 4:9 Atmospheric Density 122 -- 4:10 Particle Energy Distribution in an Atmosphere 123 -- 4:11 Phase Space 126 -- 4:12 Angular Diameters of Stars 128 -- 4:13 The Spectrum of Light Inside and Outside a Hot Body 129 -- 4:14 Boltzmann Equation and Liouville's Theorem 136 -- 4:15 Fermi-Dirac Statistics 138 -- 4:16 The Saha Equation 141 -- 4:17 Mean Values 142 -- 4:18 Fluctuations 143 -- 4:19 The First Law of Thermodynamics 144 -- 4:20 Isothermal and Adiabatic Processes 146 -- 4:21 Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics 147 -- 4:22 Formation of Condensations and the Stability of the Interstellar Medium 148 -- 4:23 Ionized Gases and Clusters of Stars and Galaxies 150 -- 5 Photons and Fast Particles 157 -- 5:1 The Relativity Principle 157 -- 5:2 Relativistic Terminology 158 -- 5:3 Relative Motion 162 -- 5:4 Four-Vectors 167 -- 5:5 Aberration of Light 169 -- 5:6 Momentum, Mass, and Energy 170 -- 5:7 The Doppler Effect 173 -- 5:8 Poynting-Robertson Drag on a Grain 174 -- 5:9 Motion Through the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation 175 -- 5:10 Particles at High Energies 178 -- 5:11 High-Energy Collisions 179 -- 5:12 Superluminal Motions and Tachyons 181 -- 5:13 Strong Gravitational Fields 183 -- 5:14 Gravitational Time Delay; Deflection of Light 187 -- 5:15 Gravitational Lenses 189 -- 5:16 An Independent Measure of the Hubble Constant 190 -- 5:17 Orbital Motion Around a Black Hole 191 -- 5:18 Advance of the Perihelion of Mercury 195 -- 5:19 Accretion Disks Around X-ray Binaries 196 -- 5:20 The Smallest Conceivable Volume 198 -- 5:21 The Zeroth Law of Black Hole Dynamics 199 -- 5:22 Entropy and Temperature of a Black Hole 199 -- 5:23 The Third Law of Black Hole Thermodynamics 200 -- 5:24 Radiating Black Holes 201 -- 6 Electromagnetic Processes in Space 205 -- 6:1 Coulomb's Law and Dielectric Displacement 205 -- 6:2 Cosmic Magnetic Fields 207 -- 6:3 Ohm's Law and Dissipation 209 -- 6:4 Magnetic Acceleration of Particles 209 -- 6:5 Ampere's Law and the Relation Between Cosmic Currents and Magnetic Fields 211 -- 6:6 Magnetic Mirrors, Magnetic Bottles, and Cosmic-Ray Particles 211 -- 6:7 Maxwell's Equations 214 -- 6:8 The Wave Equation 215 -- 6:9 Phase and Group Velocity 217 -- 6:10 Energy Density, Pressure, and the Poynting Vector 218 -- 6:11 Propagation of Waves Through a Tenuous Ionized Medium 220 -- 6:12 Faraday Rotation 223 -- 6:13 Light Emission by Slowly Moving Charges 226 -- 6:14 Gravitational Radiation 231 -- 6:15 Light Scattering by Unbound Charges 232 -- 6:16 Scattering by Bound Charges 234 -- 6:17 Extinction by Interstellar Grains 236 -- 6:18 Absorption and Emission of Radiation by a Plasma 237 -- 6:19 Radiation from Thermal Radio Sources 241 -- 6:20 Synchrotron Radiation 244 -- 6:21 The Synchrotron Radiation Spectrum 246 -- 6:22 The Compton Effect and Inverse Compton Effect 250 -- 6:23 The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect 254 -- 6:24 The Cherenkov Effect 255 -- 6:25 The Angular Distribution of Light from the Sky 257 -- 7 Quantum Processes in Astrophysics 265 -- 7:1 Absorption and Emission of Radiation by Atomic Systems 265 -- 7:2 Quantization of Atomic Systems 266 -- 7:3 Atomic Hydrogen and Hydrogenlike Spectra 269 -- 7:4 Spectra of Ionized Hydrogen 277 -- 7:5 Hydrogen Molecules 278 -- 7:6 Selection Rules 281 -- 7:7 The Information Contained in Spectral Lines 285 -- 7:8 Absorption and Emission Line Profile 288 -- 7:9 Quantum Mechanical Transition Probabilities 290 -- 7:10 Blackbody Radiation 296 -- 7:11 Stimulated Emission and Cosmic Masers 299 -- 7:12 Stellar Opacity 301 -- 7:13 Chemical Composition of Stellar Atmospheres -- The Radiative Transfer Problem 304 -- 7:14 A Gravitational Quantum Effect 308 -- 8 Stars 313 -- 8:1 Observations 313 -- 8:2 Sources of Stellar Energy 316 -- 8:3 Requirements Imposed on Stellar Models 318 -- 8:4 Mathematical Formulation of the Theory 319 -- 8:5 Relaxation Times 321 -- 8:6 Equation of State 324 -- 8:7 Luminosity 327 -- 8:8 Opacity Inside a Star 328 -- 8:9 Convective Transfer 333 -- 8:10 Nuclear Reaction Rates 335 -- 8:11 Particles and Basic Particle Interactions 339 -- 8:12 Energy-Generating Processes in Stars 341 -- 8:13 Compact Stars 351 -- 8:14 White Dwarf Stars 351 -- 8:15 Stellar Evolution and The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram 355 -- 8:16 Supernovae, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes 358 -- 8:17 Pulsars, Magnetars, and Plerions 364 -- 8:18 Hypernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts 365 -- 8:19 Microquasars 367 -- 8:20 Vibration and Rotation of Stars 367 -- 8:21 Solar Neutrino Observations 369 -- Additional Problems 371 -- 9 Cosmic Gas and Dust 379 -- 9:1 Observations 379 -- 9:2 Stromgren Spheres 390 -- 9:3 Pressure Propagation and the Speed of Sound 395 -- 9:4 Shock Fronts and Ionization Fronts 397 -- 9:5 Gamma-Ray Bursts, GRB 404 -- 9:6 Origin of Cosmic Magnetic Fields 405 -- 9:7 Dynamo Amplification of Magnetic Fields 409 -- 9:8 Cosmic-Ray Particles in the Interstellar Medium 410 -- 9:9 Formation of Molecules and Grains 415 -- 9:10 Formation of Molecular Hydrogen, H[subscript 2] 419 -- 9:11 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons 420 -- 9:12 Infrared Emission from Galactic Sources 421 -- 9:13 Orientation of Interstellar Grains 425 -- 9:14 Acoustic Damping and The Barnett Effect 429 -- 9:15 Stability of Isothermal Gas Spheres 430 -- 9:16 Polytropes 433 -- 9:17 The Nature of Dark Matter 435 -- Additional Problems 438 -- 10 Formation of Stars and Planetary Systems 441 -- 10:1 Star Formation 441 -- 10:2 Gravitational Condensation of Matter 443 -- 10:3 Jeans Criterion 444 -- 10:4 Hydrostatics of Gaseous Clouds 446 -- 10:5 Magnetic Reconnection 446 -- 10:6 Ambipolar Diffusion 449 -- 10:7 Triggered Collapse 450 -- 10:8 Energy Dissipation 451 -- 10:9 Cooling of Dense Clouds by Grain Radiation 455 -- 10:10 Condensation in the Early Solar Nebula 458 -- 10:11 The Evidence Provided by Meteorites 462 -- 10:12 Nascent Planetary Disks 467 -- 10:13 Formation of Primitive Condensates in the Early Solar Nebula 469 -- 10:14 Formation of Planetesimals 469 -- 10:15 Condensation in the Primeval Solar Nebula 471 -- 11 The Universe We Inhabit 477 -- 11:1 Questions About the Universe 477 -- 11:2 Isotropy and Homogeneity of the Universe 477 -- 11:3 Cosmological Principle 480 -- 11:4 Homogeneous Isotropic Models of the Universe 481 -- 11:5 Olbers's Paradox 485 -- 11:6 Measuring the Geometric Properties of the Universe 487 -- 11:7 Angular Diameters and Number Counts 490 -- 11:8 The Flux from Distant Supernovae 492 -- 11:9 Magnitudes and Angular Diameters of Galaxies 495 -- 11:10 Dynamics on a Cosmic Scale 496 -- 11:11 Einstein's Field Equations 497 -- 11:12 The Density Parameter[Omega] 497 -- 11:13 Some Simple Models of the Universe 500 -- 11:14 Self-Regenerating Universes 505 -- 11:15 Horizon of a Universe 506 -- 11:16 Topology of the Universe 511 -- 11:17 Do the Fundamental Constants of Nature Change with Time? 513 -- 11:18 The Flow of Time 515 -- 11:19 Branes and Compact Dimensions 517 -- 12 An Astrophysical History of the Universe 525 -- 12:1 The Isotropy Problem 525 -- 12:2 The Flatness Problem 527 ER -