Stars and Star Formation
Spring 2016

COURSE OUTLINE

Lecturer: Prof. Jack Hughes, Busch Campus, Serin-307, Tel: (848)445-8878, e-mail: jph "at" physics.rutgers.edu

Textbook: The Physics of Stars, 2nd Ed., by A.C. Phillips (required) available from the bookstore or from Amazon

Books on Reserve (at the Mathematical Sciences and Physics Library, Hill Center)

• The Physics of Stars, by Phillips
• Principles of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, by Clayton
• Structure and evolution of the stars, by Schwarzschild

Overview: Observed properties of stars. Internal structure of stars, energy generation and transport. Polytropes. White dwarfs. Post main sequence evolution.

Format: The course consists of 2 lectures each week on Tuesday and Friday from 12:00N to 1:20PM in room 212 of the T. Alexander Pond Science and Engineering Resource Center (SERC) , Busch Campus.

Homework Policy: Weekly homework (H/W) assignments will be posted on the Assignments tab of the sakai course web site and must be turned in through sakai. ONLY PDF DOCUMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Unless otherwise noted, H/W is due by 5:00PM, Friday. Late homeworks will be assessed the following penalties:

• First assignment: minus 10% per hour late
• Second assignment: minus 50% per hour late
• Third or later assignments: no credit if late

Assessment: In addition to weekly homework, there will be one or two detailed numerical calculations that will require you to write programs in a software package (e.g., java, Fortran, c, c++, IDL, etc.). There will be midterm and final exams.

Announcements: Special announcements will be posted on the web. The home page for the course is http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/ugrad/441/

Office Hours: You may come by Prof. Hughes' office anytime (best to phone or e-mail first) or send him brief questions via e-mail.

• Students with Disabilities: Please refer to this link for information and departmental policies.