Astronomy 643: Astrophysics of Stars and Stellar Populations

Office: 517G LGRT
Phone: 545-2131
Email: wqd@umass.edu

Class Time: 2:30-3:45
Room: 1334

This graduate course is required for the Ph.D. degree in astronomy. The course is designed to introduce the theory of stellar structure and evolution and its application to the stellar population study, stressing the basic underlying physics. Topics include gravitational equilibrium configurations, virial theorem, polytropes, thermodynamics, convective and radiative transport, nuclear reactions and energy generation, pre-main-sequence contraction, evolution to red giant, white dwarf, and neutron star, supernova explosions, stellar atmospheres, and population synthesis, as well as links to observations.

The course web address can be found at people.umass.edu/wqd/astro643

Tentative Schedule:

Introduction	Feb. 2, 4	HKT 1-2
Equation of state	Feb. 9, 11, 16	HKT 3
Radiative and heat transfer	Feb 18, 23, 25	HKT 4 and 5
Stellar energy source	Mar 2, 4, 9	HKT 6
Stellar modeling	Mar 11, 16	HKT 7
Stellar evolution	Mar 18, 23, 25, 30	SC 4-7 and HKT 2, 9.1-9.2, 10.1-10.2
Binary evolution	Apr 1
From theory to observations	Apr 6	SC 8
Simple stellar population	Apr 8, 13	SC 9
Composite stellar population	Apr 15, 22	SC 10
Unresolved stellar population	Apr 27, 29	SC 11
Student presentation	May 4

Assignments:

There will be about 4-5 homework assignments.

Reading Materials:

The first text for the class is Stellar Interiors: Physical Principles, Structure and Evolution by C. Hansen, S. Kawaler, & V. Trimble (HKT) 2004. ISBN: 0-387-20089-4. This textbook focuses exclusively on stellar interiors.

The second text is Evolution of Stars and Stellar Populations by Maurizio Salaris and Santi Cassisi (SC) 2006. ISBN-13: 978-0470092200; A free ebook copy may be obtained here.

Additional textbooks:

Stellar Populations (Series in Cosmology) by Alvio Renzini and Laura Greggio
An easier textbook is An Introduction to the Theory of Stellar Structure and Evolution by Dina Prialnik (Cambridge University Press) 2000. Exercises with solutions.
A classic one is Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis by D. Clayton, (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago) 1984
A pdf copy of an out of print textbook "The Fundamentals of Stellar Astrophysics" by George W. Collins II can be found here. This book is rather theoretical in nature, but many students find it to be a useful reference.

Review papers:

Report of the US Astro 2010 Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolution
2005ARA&A..43..387 Gallart, C.; Zoccali, M.; Aparicio, A.: The Adequacy of Stellar Evolution Models for the Interpretation of the Color-Magnitude Diagrams of Resolved Stellar Populations
2003ARA&A..41...15 Massey, Philip: MASSIVE STARS IN THE LOCAL GROUP: Implications for Stellar Evolution and Star Formation
2007ARA&A..45..481 Zinnecker, Hans; Yorke, Harold W.: Toward Understanding Massive Star Formation

Theory of Stellar Population Synthesis with an application to N-Body simulations Pasetto, S.; Chiosi, C.; Kawata, D. (2012)
Near Infrared spectroscopy of post-starburst galaxies: a limited impact of TP-AGB stars on galaxy SEDby Stefano Zibetti et al. (2012)

Class Format:

Class will be partly in the format of student-led discussion as well as lectures. Students must read the entire assignment before coming to class. During the lecture, we will discuss the questions you have about the lecture topic. Please email your questions by Wednesday to me (wqd@umass.edu) so that they can be considered for the Thursday lectures. In your email, please use "SSE" as subject, and mention at the beginning of your question and the corresponding subsection of the lecture notes. Note that your class preparation grade will be based largely on the quality and number of your questions.

Evaluation:

Homework -- 30%
Exam and/or Term Paper -- 50%
Class preparation/participation -- 20%