Radiative Processes (ASTRON C207 Fall 2022)

Goal of the class: broad understanding of radiation processes in various astrophysical contexts
Prerequisite: Maxwell equations, Schrodinger equation, statistical mechanics, vector analysis
Required texts: Rybicki & Lightman's book (any version) and supplied texts
Classroom: Campbell Hall 501B
Course hours: T & Th 1:30-3
Office hours: W 2-3 (appointment otherwise)
Grading:
Homework 20%; Mid-term exam 15%; Final exam 20%; Class Participation 10%; Exploratory project 15%

EM fields (vacuum waves, spectrum, polarization)

Radiative transfer (intensity, absorption, emission, scattering, diffusion)

Special relativity (4-vectors, Lorentz transformation, beaming, relativistic motion)

Moving charges (equation of motion, retarded potentials, Larmor's formula, multipole fields)

Bremsstrahlung (Rutherford scattering, emission spectrum, absorption)

Synchrotron (emission spectrum, absorption, polarization, power-law electrons)

Compton scattering (cross-section, inverse-Compton, repeated scatterings)

Plasma physics (wave modes, propagation, eikonal equation, scattering by turbulent plasma)

Atoms (quantum transitions, H, He, shell model, K-alpha/Auger processes)

Bound-free (opacity, photoionization, recombination, Milne, Saha)

Spectral lines (broadening, line transfer)

Collisions (rates, (de)excitation, ionization, inelastic)

Molecules (diatomic, rotational/vibrational transitions)

Dust grains (scattering, absorption)

[Shocks] (jump conditions, Fermi acceleration, spherical blastwaves, radiative shocks)

[Nuclei and neutrinos]

[Gravitational radiation]

[Cosmic rays]