Physics 341:
Principles of Astrophysics

Fall 2007

Astronomy at Rutgers • Department of Physics & Astronomy • Rutgers University
 

1. Course Description

Astrophysics is the application of physical principles to astronomical systems. In Physics 341-342 you will learn how to use gravity, electromagnetism, gas physics, and atomic and nuclear physics to understand planets, stars, galaxies, dark matter, and the universe as a whole. Gravity is the dominant force in many astronomical systems, and it will be our focus in Physics 341.

Some astrophysical systems are described by equations that are fairly easy to solve, and we will certainly study them. However, many interesting systems cannot be solved exactly. Nevertheless, we can often use physical insight and approximate calculations to understand the salient features of a system without sweating the details. One goal of the course is to develop that skill. Another goal is learn about recent advances in astrophysics, a very dynamic field of research!

Prerequisites for this class are two semesters of physics and two semesters of calculus. I will briefly review physical principles as we need them, but assume that you have seen them before. I will also assume familiarity with vector calculus. Some of the homework assignments may involve a little bit of computation that can be done with programs like Excel, Maple, Matlab, or Mathematica.

The main textbook is An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (2nd edition) by Bradley W. Carroll and Dale A. Ostlie. The book provides a broad survey of astrophysics and covers the basics well. I will also draw from other sources as well, letting you know when I do.

2. Instructor and Venue

Prof. Chuck Keeton
Room 305, Serin Physics Building, Busch Campus
Email: keeton at physics.rutgers.edu
Phone: 732-445-5742

Office hours:

The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:20-4:40, in ARC 105 on Busch campus.

3. Grading Policy

I will hand out a homework assignment each Thursday and collect it in class the following Thursday. No late homeworks will be accepted. If you must miss class, it is your resposibility to get your homework to me (or my departmental mailbox) by 4:30 PM on Thursday.

There will be between 10 and 12 homework assignments during the semester. I will drop the two lowest scores and use the remaining to compute your homework grade.

There will be a take-home final exam that will be due at noon on Thursday, December 13.

Your course grade will be computed as follows:

4. Topics, Schedule, and Supplemental Material

Here is a preliminary list of topics and tentative semester schedule for Physics 341. It may be revised as the semester proceeds.

General concept Date Topics
Introduction Sept 4, 6 Gravity; estimation techniques; dimensional analysis
One-body problem Sept 11, 13 Newton's laws of motion and gravity; conservation laws; Kepler's laws of planetary motion
  Sept 18 Telescope resolution; Galactic black hole
  Sept 20 Doppler effect; Supermassive black holes in other galaxies
Two-body problem Sept 25 Theory; equivalent one-body problem
  Sept 27 Binary stars
  Oct 2, 4 Extrasolar planets
  Oct 9 Tidal forces
Three-body problem Oct 11 Lagrange points; asteroids; close binaries
N-body problem / Galaxies Oct 16 Basic properties of galaxies
  Oct 18 Spiral galaxy rotation curves; dark matter
  Oct 23, 25 Beyond rotation
  Oct 30 Virial theorem; elliptical galaxies
  Nov 1 Galaxy interactions
Bending of light Nov 6 Principles of gravitational lensing
  Nov 8 Microlensing
  Nov 13 Lensing by galaxies and clusters
Relativity Nov 15 Special relativity
  Nov 20 Introduction to general relativity
  Nov 22 NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
  Nov 27 Classic tests of general relativity
  Nov 29 Strong-field gravity; black holes
  Dec 4 Black hole evaporation; primordial black holes; braneworld gravity
Cosmology Dec 6, 11 Expanding universe; dark energy

I have created a wiki for the course, which can be found at:

I will keep the schedule current there, and post homework assignments and solution sets. The wiki also provides supplemental material, including links to online astrophysics resources.

The reason I made the course website a wiki is to allow you to edit it. I encourage you to update the wiki with interesting material about astrophysics that you find. Working together, we can create a rich site with lots of interesting information about astrophysics!

5. Students with Disabilities

Click here for more information.

6. Rutgers Policy on Academic Integrity

The official Rutgers policy on academic integrity can be found at http://cat.rutgers.edu/in tegrity/policy.html.