Astrophysics and Cosmology 390-ERS-2ASK

Subjects realized at the lecture:
I. Structure of stars, evolution of stars:
1. The nature of astronomy: Sources of information, Blackbody radiation.
2. The virial theorem. The negative specific heat of a star.
3. Stellar nucleosynthesis: Coulomb barrier, proton-proton chain reaction, CNO cycle, and triple-alpha process.
4. Equations of stellar structure: mass balance, hydrostatic equilibrium, EOS, thermal equilibrium.
5. Energy transport in a star: convective heat transfer, radiative transport, conductivity.
6. Star formation: Jeans (critical) length and Jeans mass.
7. Hertzsprung-Russel diagram.

II. Relativistic astrophysics:
1. The Pauli exclusion principle, Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein distribution, 1-D and 3-D degeneracy, nonrelativistic and relativistic EOS of degenerated matter.
2. White dwarf: Chandrasekhar limit.
3. Black hole: event horizon, relativistic properties, Hawking radiation. Black holes in the Universe.
5. Gravitational waves: properties, detectors. Hulse–Taylor binary, the source GW150914, GW170817.

III. Cosmology:
1. The Milky Way, Local Group, Superclusters.
2. The expanding Universe: the Olbers' paradox, the Hubble-Lemaître law.
3. The Friedmann, fluid, and acceleration equation.
4. Curvature of the Universe, Hubble time, Hubble horizon distance
5. The Standard Model (Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker universe).
6. The Big Bang Theory: the Universe dominated by the radiation and by the matter, the dark matter and dark energy, the future of the Universe.

Subjects realized at the colloquium seminars:
All exercises are related to the mentioned above topics.
Inter alia:
1. Plank's law (Planck function, Wien, Rayleigh-Jeans formulas), Wien's displacement law, Stefan-Boltzman law, the temperature of the Sun;
2. Virial theorem in practice. The potential energy of a star.
3. The thermal, the dynamic, and nuclear time-scales.
4. Estimation of the efficiency of energy production in a star, proton-proton chain. Estimation of a neutrino flux approaching our head.
5. Estimation of the central temperature and pressure in a star.
6. Estimation of the Jeans mass and length for a molecular cloud.
7. Binary stars: the Lagrangian points. the Algol paradox, the Eddington luminosity.
8. Estimation of the Chandrasekhar mass.
9. Estimation of basic parameters of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes.
10. Gravitational waves: the power radiated by a binary system.
11. The Olbers' paradox, Hubble-Lemaître law, Hubble time, Hubble horizon distance.
12. Cosmic microwave radiation:
13. Dark matter.