PHYS633 Spring 2008 Information

PHYS633 Spring 2008 Course Information and Schedules

Course schedule

Homework Schedule

1. Instructor

Prof. James MacDonald

268 Sharp Lab

jimmacd@udel.edu

Office hours (subject to change)

Prof. James MacDonald

268 Sharp Lab

M 11 am- 12 noon, F 1.30 - 3.30 pm

2. Books

Textbook: Stellar Structure and Evolution (Study Edition), R. Kippenhahn, A. Weigert, Springer-Verlag

Other books that you might find useful and/or interesting:

The Internal Constitution of the Stars, by A. Eddington. A classic book, by one of the founders of the field.
Structure and Evolution of the Stars, by M. Schwarzschild. Another classic, somewhat more recent than Eddington's book. Schwarzschild was one of the first to use digital computers to solve the equations of stellar evolution.
An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure, by S. Chandrasekhar. Contains the Nobel prize winning work on the structure of white dwarf stars. Available in a low cost Dover Edition
Stellar Interiors, by S. Kawaler & C. Hansen. A more modern treatment than the above books, but in less depth than Kippenhahn & Weigert. Includes a CD-ROM containing a set of stellar structure, evolution and pulsation programs.
Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis, by D. D. Clayton. A clearly written book with emphasis on nuclear reactions and nucleosynthesis.

3. Grading

Weighting for projects and homeworks:

First Project	40%
Second project	40%
Homework	20%

Grade Scale:

90% - 100%	A
85% - 90%	A-
80% - 85%	B+
70% - 80%	B
65% - 70%	B-
60% - 65%	C+
50% - 60%	C
45% - 50%	C-
40% - 45%	D+
30% - 40%	D
25% - 30%	D-
0% - 25%	F

4. Projects and Homework.

The grade for the course is determined from two projects and homeworks. The timetable for the projects is given on the schedule.

Project 1. Structure of zero temperature white dwarfs

Project 2. Exploring the dependence of Zero Age Main Sequence (ZAMS) properties on the heavy element abundance

5. Make-up Exams

Not applicable.

6. Academic Dishonesty

You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the University's Policy on Academic Honesty, which is in the Student Guide to University Policies. This policy applies to this course.

7. Requirements of LISTENERS

Students taking the class as listeners are required to attend 75% of classes and to hand in, on the due date, complete solutions to 50% or more of the homeworks. Failure to comply with these requirements will result in a grade of LW (listener withdrawn).

Schedule (04/19/08)

Class	Day & Date	Topic	Relevant sections of textbook	Course Notes	Homework & Project Schedule

1	W Feb 13	Observational background		Part 1
2	F Feb 15	Observational background (cont.)		Part 1
3	M Feb 18	Intro. to Fluid Dynamics		Part 2	Homework 1 due in class
4	W Feb 20	"
5	F Feb 22	Continuity equation	1.1 - 1.3
6	M Feb 25	Hydrostatic equilibrium	2.1 -2.5
7	W Feb 27	The Virial theorem	3.1, 3.3	Part 3
8	F Feb 29	Energy considerations	4.1 - 4.4		Homework 2 due in class
9	M Mar 3	Radiative transfer	5.1 - 5.4
10	W Mar 5	Convective instability	6.1	Part 4
11	F Mar 7	Convective energy transport	7.1 - 7.3	Part 4
12	M Mar 10	Solving the equations of stellar structure	9.1 - 10.2, 11.2	Part 5	Homework 3 due in class
13	W Mar 12	Physics of gas and radiation 1	13.1	Part 6
14	F Mar 14	Physics of gas and radiation 2	13.2	Part 6
15	M Mar 17	Ionization	14.1 - 14.7	Part 7	Homework 4 due in class
16	W Mar 19	The degenerate electron gas	15.1 - 15.4	Part 8
17	F Mar 21	Equation of state	16.1 - 16.5
18	M Mar 24	Polytropic models	19.1 - 19.9	Part 9	Homework 5 due in class
19	W Mar 26
20	F Mar 28	Opacity 1	17.1 - 17.4	Part 10
	Mar 31 - Apr 4	Spring Break
21	M Apr 7	Opacity 2	17.5 - 17.7
22	W Apr 9				Homework 6 due in class
23	F Apr 11	Nuclear processes 1	18.1 - 18.2	Part 11
24	M Apr 14	Nuclear processes 2	18.3 - 18.4
25	W Apr 16	Nuclear processes 3	18.5 - 18.6
26	F Apr 18	Homology relations	20.1 - 20.3	Part 12
27	M Apr 21	Hydrogen Main Sequence	22.1 - 22.4	Part 13
28	W Apr 23	Helium Main Sequence, Linear Series	23.1 - 23.4	Part 14	Homework 7 due in class
29	F Apr 25	The Hayashi line	24.1 - 24.5	Part 15
30	M Apr 28	Star formation 1	26.1 - 27.2	Part 16
31	W Apr 30	Star formation 2	27.3 - 28.2	Part 16
32	F May 2	Main Sequence stars 1	29.1- 30.3	Part 17
33	M May 5	Main Sequence stars 2	30.4 - 30.5	Part 17
34	W May 7	Red giant & Horizontal Branch stars	32.1 - 32.6	Part 18	Project 1 Draft Due
35	F May 10	Asymptotic Giant Branch stars & Planetary Nebula formation	32.7	Part 19
36	M May 12	White Dwarf stars	35.1 - 35.3	Part 19
37	W May 14	Massive star evolution I	31.1 - 31.5, 33.1 - 33.5	Part 20	Homework 8 due in class Project 2 Draft Due
38	F May 16	Massive star evolution II	34.1 - 34.3	Part 20
39	M May 19	Stellar pulsations I	38.1 - 38.3	Part 21
40	W May 21	Stellar pulsations	39.1 - 39.5	Part 21	Final versions of Projects due
	F May 23

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Homework Schedule

Homework #	Due Date
1 Solutions	Feb. 18^th, 2008
2 Solutions	Feb. 29^th, 2008
3 Solutions	Mar. 10^th, 2008
4 Solutions	Mar. 17^th, 2008
5 Solutions	Mar. 24^th, 2008
6 Solutions	Apr. 9^th, 2008
7 Solutions	Apr. 23^rd, 2008
8 Solutions	May 14^th, 2008

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8. Software

Solution of the stellar evolutions equations for realistic models requires a computer code. A code ideally suited to this class is the Evolve ZAMS (EZ) code by Bill Paxton. EZ Web, a web-based interface for this code has been developed by Richard Townsend, and he has graciously given us permission to use it. You can reach EZ Web at http://shayol.bartol.udel.edu/~rhdt/ezweb/.

You will be asked to use EZ Web in some of the homeworks. Detailed instructions for using EZ Web can be found on the EZ Web web page.