TEXTBOOK:
Melia, High-Energy Astrophysics (Princeton University Press, 2008)
TOPICS COVERED DURING THE SEMESTER
Introduction and Motivation (7 lectures)
High-Energy Astrophysics
Energies, timescales, luminosities
Experimental Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics (HEA)
Atmospheric absorption
UV, X-ray, and Gamma-ray detectors
Balloons, Space-based astronomy
Past, present, and pending HEA Telescopes
Sky Maps
X-rays (diffuse, point sources)
Gamma-rays (point sources)
Classes of Sources and Archetypical Objects
Pulsing sources (White Dwarfs, Neutron stars)
Cygnus X-1
Transient X-ray and Gamma-ray sources
The Galactic Center
Active Galactic Nuclei
Basic Theoretical Tools (8 lectures)
Relativity
Overview of Special Relativity
Introduction to General Relativity
Particle Acceleration
Gravity
Electromagnetic Fields
Fermi Mechanism
Radiative Processes
Thermal Bremsstrahlung
Non-thermal Synchrotron
Compton Scattering
Sources of Energy (7 lectures)
Nuclear Burning
Spherical Accretion
Thin Disk Accretion
Roche Lobe Geometry
Standard Thin Disk Theory (formation, viscosity, structure)
Galactic X-ray Sources (3 lectures)
Magnetospheric Physics
Isolated Neutron Stars (Radio Pulsars)
X-ray Pulsars
Evolution of X-ray Binaries
Massive binaries containing neutron stars
Low-mass binaries containing neutron stars
Cataclysmic Variables
X-Ray Burst Sources
Thermonuclear Flash Model
Implications for neutron-star structure
The Black Hole Candidate Cygnus X-1
Multi-wavelength observations
The Comptonized Spectrum Model
The Galactic Center (1 lecture)
E1740, the source of electron-positron radiation
The supermassive black hole candidate Sgr A*
Active Galactic Nuclei (2 lectures)
Multiwavelength Observations, Classes
The Accretion-Disk interpretation for the "blue bump"
X-ray and Gamma-ray Emission Mechanisms
The Gamma-ray OVV 3C279 observed with GRO
Gamma-ray Burst Sources (1 lecture)
Spectra
Spatial Distribution
The Evidence for a Cosmological Source
METHOD OF EVALUATION
- Problems (40%)
- Midterm exam (20%)
- Final Exam (40%)