ASTR 5120-001: RADIATIVE AND DYNAMICAL PROCESSES

SPRING 2011

MW 2:00pm-3:15pm, in Duane E126 (regular class)
W 10:00 - 10:50am in Duane E126 (recitation: Dr. Emily Levesque)
 

Prof. Rosalba Perna
Office:  A-506A, JILA Tower 
Phone: 303-492-0389
e-mail : rosalba@jilau1.colorado.edu

Office hours:  Flexible. I am around most of the time. Just stop by my office when you need.

                                                                                       COURSE DESCRIPTION

The aim of this course is to provide a broad introduction to physical processes that are frequently encountered in astrophysics and planetary sciences:

There is no single textbook that covers all the topics of this class. In preparing the lectures, I'll be drawing fron a number of sources and textbooks, among which the most relevant ones are: Choudhuri: "The Physics of Fluids and Plasmas"; Rybicki & Lightman: "Radiative Processes in Astrophysics"; Bellan: "Fundamentals of Plasma Physics"; Binney & Tremaine: "Galactic Dynamics". The extra recitation hour on Wed will be devoted to discussion of papers relevant to the course, problem solving, etc.

The course grade will be based on: homeworks (40%), in-class tests (20%, each covering one of the three broad course topics outlined above), and a combination of a paper (20%) + presentation (20%) on a topic chosen by the student. The topic should be directly related to the material discussed in this course and should not be the main research topic of the student (or the subject of the Comp II exam).  The paper is due on 03/28/10, while presentations, of 35-40 min duration each, will begin on 03/30/10.

A more detailed syllabus can be downloaded from here.