Using basic concepts of general physics, to quantitatively understand how structures form and evolve on various scales in the Universe. Open to all Y2 Physics students. No pre-requisites.
Schedule
Mondays 11-12 (Poynting S06); and Thursdays 11-12 (Poynting S06), except for Monday 9 January, Monday 6 February & Thursday 9 January, when there will be no class. Instead, there are two lectures scheduled for Tuesdays 21 and 28 February at 5pm.
Lectures and handouts
Astronomical
scales of time and distance. Gravitational fields and potentials.
Stable systems; dynamical stability; force balance; and hydrostatic
equilibrium. Thermodynamics of a star: source of stellar energy. The
Virial Theorem: Application of Theorem to star formation and stellar
evolution. Star formation in molecular clouds: Jeans Mass. The
two-body problem: Binary stars and extrasolar planets. Properties of
Galaxies: Weighing galaxies. Rotation in Systems: centre of
mass;moment of inertia; Conservation of angular momentum; example of
pulsars. Rotation curves of spiral galaxies and Dark
matter. Cosmology: formation of structure in the early universe; the
density of matter and radiation; the epoch of recombination. The
Cosmic Background radiation.
Notes and books
In
general, I will not distribute detailed notes: students are
expected to make their own notes in class. I will hand out printed
notes on a few bits of the module that are not easily accessible in
textbooks. On the module website, I will indicate, for each lecture, a
set of links on the web and also chapters of relevant textbooks that
would be useful for following up the material covered in each lecture.
You are expected to follow textbooks. Kutner and Carroll and Ostlie
will be useful for various bits of the module
Click for list of books- also links to websites of the individual textbooks, which have supplementary study material and other useful links.
Other
Useful links