------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SYLLABUS Astronomy 485: Introduction to High-Energy Astronomy Fall 2009 Offering The Pennsylvania State University University Park Campus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mon Wed Fri, 9:05 AM - 9:55 AM 541 Davey Lab ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Instructor: Niel Brandt Instructor's office hours: Mon Wed, 9:55 AM - 10:55 AM Instructor's office: 507 Davey Lab Instructor's phone: (814) 865-3509 Course WWW page: www.astro.psu.edu/users/niel/astro485/astro485.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COURSE CATALOG DESCRIPTION The study of black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, supernova remnants, and extragalactic objects through X-ray and gamma-ray observations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPECIFICS PREREQUISITE: The prerequisite for this course is PHYS 237 (Introduction to Modern Physics). You will need to know this material well to be successful in this course. LECTURES: The lectures are designed to explain difficult concepts, to expand on the reading material, and to introduce topics not covered in the textbook. You are responsible for the material presented in the lectures. You are encouraged to ask questions during the lectures. Also, if I am lecturing too fast or something is not clear please feel free to tell me, and I'll be happy to go over the material again. Due to some travel I have over the semester, there will likely be some guest and make-up lectures. These will be arranged a few weeks into the course. REFERENCES: There are two required textbooks for this course: * Exploring the X-ray Universe P.A. Charles and F.D. Seward Cambridge University Press, 1995 ISBN: 0-521-43712-1 * High-Energy Astrophysics F. Melia Princeton University Press, 2009 ISBN: 978-0-691-14029-2 Together these books give an excellent introduction to the observational phenomena of high-energy astrophysics. They also give good overviews of many X-ray missions and the tools of high-energy astronomy. I will furthermore provide material prepared by C.R. Canizares, A.C. Fabian, and G.P. Garmire; this material is on the course WWW page. There are several other good books on high-energy astronomy that will be useful for various parts of the course, and you should refer to these as the need arises. I have listed the books roughly in order of relevance to this course below. * High-Energy Astrophysics: Second Edition M.S. Longair Cambridge University Press, 1992 and 1994 ISBN: 0-521-38773-6 and 0-521-43584-6 This book is split into two volumes. The first volume covers particles, photons, and their detection. The second volume covers stars, the Galaxy, and the interstellar medium. These contain a wealth of material, but they have little discussion of extragalactic high-energy phenomena. * Introduction to High-Energy Astrophysics S. Rosswog and M. Bruggen Cambridge University Press, 2007 ISBN: 978-0-521-85769-7 A up-to-date, self-contained, and brief overview of some of the most exciting topics in high-energy astrophysics. * Black Holes, White Dwarfs, and Neutron Stars: The Physics of Compact Objects S.L. Shapiro and S.A. Teukolsky Wiley Interscience, 1983 ISBN: 0-471-87316-0 This book covers the physics of black holes, white dwarfs, and neutron stars in great detail. On average, it is probably somewhat above the level of this course. It is dated in places but is still a classic reference for the subject. * Radiative Processes in Astrophysics G.B. Rybicki and A.P. Lightman Wiley Interscience, 1979 ISBN: 0-471-82759-2 This book is one of the standards of astronomy education, and it does an excellent job of covering the title material. * Accretion Power in Astrophysics: Third Edition J. Frank, A. King, and D. Raine Cambridge University Press, 2002 ISBN: 0-521-620538 This book has good coverage of accretion physics for both Galactic and extragalactic objects. * Frontiers of X-ray Astronomy A.C. Fabian, K.A. Pounds, and R.D. Blandford Cambridge University Press, 2004 ISBN: 0-521-53487-9 A collection of detailed reviews on selected exciting topics in X-ray astronomy. * The Universe in X-rays J.E. Truemper and G. Hasinger Springer-Verlag, 2008 ISBN: 978-3-540-34411-7 A collection of detailed reviews on selected topics in X-ray astronomy, presented from a German point-of-view. Best enjoyed with Spaten and pretzels. * High-Energy Spectroscopic Astrophysics S.M. Kahn, P. von Ballmoos, and R.A. Sunyaev Springer-Verlag, 2005 ISBN: 3-540-40501-1 A detailed summary of basic knowledge about X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy. * The Galactic Supermassive Black Hole F. Melia Princeton University Press, 2007 ISBN: 0-691-13129-5 A gripping high-level account of the best-studied supermassive black hole in the Universe, truly a central object of modern astrophysics. * X-ray Detectors in Astronomy G.W. Fraser Cambridge University Press, 1989 Out of print This book covers X-ray detectors extremely well and is written by an expert in the field. It has little about the science that is done with these detectors. * The Restless Universe: Understanding X-ray Astronomy in the Age of Chandra and XMM-Newton E.M. Schlegel Oxford University Press, 2002 ISBN: 0-19-514847-9 A non-technical, up-to-date, and broad-brush review of X-ray astronomy. Emphasis is given to the recently launched missions, Chandra and XMM-Newton. The Davey Lab library (on the second floor) has copies of these books, and I have placed them on reserve for your use. If you are planning a professional career in astronomy, you will almost certainly see some of these books again. In this case, you may want to buy 1 or 2 of the ones that are particularly interesting to you. GRADING: Your grade will be based on homework (50%), the midterm (25%), and the final (25%). The grades will be curved, but I will also maintain some reasonable absolute standards. HOMEWORK AND COLLABORATION POLICY: Homework sets will be assigned and due every other week. You are urged not to start these the night before they are due. The most important thing you can learn from homework is how to solve problems for yourself. This is what you will need to do to succeed in the real world. Therefore, please try each problem for at least 1 hour before discussing it with anyone else. You may consult books and published papers, but you may not look at any old assignments or exams from this course or Astro 550. After you have made an honest attempt at a problem for at least 1 hour, you may discuss it with others currently in the course who have also made honest attempts at the problem. If your answers differ, you may argue your case at a blackboard, but you may not look at each other's papers or copy things off the blackboard afterward. Please write your homework solutions in a standard and extremely clear manner. It will not be possible to give credit for work that is not clearly explained. Please show your work since this will allow partial credit to be given even if you cannot solve the whole problem. When it is relevant, use general formulae for as long as possible and only plug in numbers at the end of a problem. Your homework solutions should follow the order in which the problems are given (don't present problem 7, then problem 1, then problem 5, etc.). Please staple your homework before handing it in. A few tough problems will be given on each homework set to challenge those people who plan to go on to become professional astronomers. Do not despair if you do not get perfect scores on all your homework! In the absence of a serious medial excuse (documented by an official physician's note), late homework will receive only one-half credit. If you have a medical excuse, you must contact me as soon as possible regarding this matter to arrange a new due date. In all cases, you may not look at any solutions handed out in class (or at the homework of anyone else). If you think there is something wrong or unfair with how your homework has been graded, you should promptly submit a written appeal to the instructor. This appeal should include your name and contact information, a clear identification of the issue in question, and a concise and thoughtful explanation of what you think is wrong or unfair. Of course, you should also include your original homework as part of the appeal. Appeals must be submitted to the instructor within two weeks of the time when the relevant homework is returned in class. This written appeal procedure also applies to the exams described below. EXAMS: There will be one midterm exam and one final exam. The final exam will cover material for the entire semester. The exams will be closed book and closed notes. You may use standard, non-programmable calculators on the exams. Calculators with memories that can store equations and text are not allowed. The week for the midterm exam is listed below. The final exam will be at the nominal date and time unless otherwise notified. In the absence of a serious medical excuse (documented by an official physician's note), no makeup exams will be given. If you have a medical excuse, you must contact me as soon as possible regarding this matter to arrange a makeup exam date. In such cases, you are strictly forbidden from discussing the exam with any of the other students in the course. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: This course follows the Astronomy & Astrophysics Department and College integrity policies. You are responsible for abiding by these policies, so please review them. See http://www.astro.psu.edu/deptinfo/Astropolicy.html http://www.science.psu.edu/academic/Integrity/Policy.htm GENERAL CLASSROOM CONDUCT: Please turn off cell phones and pagers before the start of each class. Please do not read newspapers etc. or listen to iPods etc. during class. Please do not talk or pass notes during class. Penn State policy prohibits the consumption of food and drink in classrooms with the exception of bottled water. Justifying documentation to override the policy for medical reasons should be submitted to the instructor. At the end of class, you should pick up any newspapers, trash, and debris for which you are responsible. Seating and furniture should not be moved from the traditional lecture format without permission from the instructor. Do not post any signs or notices within the classroom. DISABILITIES: Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for reasonable academic adjustments in this course, contact the Office for Disability Services (ODS) located in room 116 Boucke Building at 814-863-1807. For further information regarding ODS, please visit their World Wide Web site at http://www.equity.psu.edu/ods/. Instructors should be notified as early in the semester as possible regarding the need for reasonable academic adjustments. OFFICE HOURS AND QUESTIONS: You may come to my office hours for help with the course material. If you cannot make the appointed times, please phone to make an appointment (my office hours and phone number are given at the top of the first page). If you are unhappy about something in the course please let me know, and I'll try to fix it if possible. I prefer phone calls to email, but if you are uncomfortable with phoning (or are having trouble reaching me by phone) then feel free to send email. HONORS OPTION: If you are a student in the Schreyer Honors College, there is an honors option for this course. This involves a computational investigation of the structure of white dwarf stars. There is some detailed information about this on the course World Wide Web page, and you can get further information from the instructor. ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: Niel Brandt has been at Penn State since 1997 and is currently a professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics. Previously he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a graduate student at the University of Cambridge. Brandt uses X-ray satellites, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission-Newton, to study the physics and evolution of active galaxies and other cosmic X-ray sources. He is an author of more than 245 research papers and leads a small research group including postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. He also regularly teaches courses on introductory astronomy, high-energy astrophysics, black holes, and active galaxies. His favorite rock bands include the Beautiful South, the Eagles, and the Smiths. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ READING ASSIGNMENTS Here I list the reading assignments for this course. They are divided into "weeks" where a week is defined as a set of three lectures (not necessarily corresponding to a chronological week). You are responsible for all the material covered in the assignments. WEEK 1: Introduction and physics concepts needed in high-energy astrophysics * Charles & Seward chapter 1: Introduction * Melia chapter 1 on Introduction and Motivation * Longair volume 1 pages 32-34 on units and basic definitions * Garmire notes on cross sections and photoelectric absorption WEEK 2: Physics concepts needed in high-energy astrophysics * Melia chapter 5 on Radiative Processes * Garmire notes on bremsstrahlung, free-free absorption, radiative recombination, and line radiation * Canizares notes on line radiation and spectroscopy WEEK 3: Physics concepts needed in high-energy astrophysics * Melia chapter 5 on Radiative Processes * Rybicki & Lightman pages 167-175 on cyclotron and synchrotron radiation (don't agonize over the details) * Longair volume 1 pages 92-105 on Thomson scattering and Compton scattering * Longair volume 1 pages 118-119 on electron-positron pair production WEEK 4: Physics concepts needed in high-energy astrophysics and the tools of high-energy astronomy * Charles & Seward page 184 on the Eddington limit * Charles & Seward chapter 2: The tools of X-ray astronomy * Melia chapter 4 on Particle Acceleration * Longair volume 1 pages 315-319 on shocks WEEK 5: The tools of high-energy astronomy * Charles & Seward chapter 2 : The tools of X-ray astronomy * Charles & Seward chapter 17: Some major observatories of the 1990s * Melia section 1.4 on Experimental Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics * Melia section 1.5 on High-Energy Telescopes * Physics Today article on "The new gamma-ray astronomy" and article on "GLAST: Exploring nature's highest energy processes with the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope" WEEK 6: Maps of the high-energy sky, solar system objects, stellar high-energy emission, and the interstellar medium * Charles & Seward chapter 15: X-rays from planets * Charles & Seward chapter 4: Active stellar coronae * Charles & Seward chapter 5: Early-type stars and superbubbles * Melia chapter 2 on The High-Energy Sky WEEK 7: Supernovae and supernova remnants * Charles & Seward chapter 3: Supernova remnants (only skim the parts on isolated neutron stars) * Fabian notes on "Supernovae" and "Supernova remnants" * Nature article on "Supernova explosions in the Universe" WEEK 8: Isolated white dwarfs and white dwarfs in binary systems * Charles & Seward chapter 10: Cataclysmic variable stars * Melia section 9.3 on Cataclysmic Variables * Fabian notes on "Degeneracy pressure", "White dwarfs" and "Binary stars" WEEK 9: White dwarfs in binary systems and isolated neutron stars * Charles & Seward chapter 3: Supernova remnants (re-read the parts on isolated neutron stars) * Melia section 9.1 on Radio Pulsars * Fabian notes on "Neutron stars" and "Lone neutron stars-pulsars" * Midterm exam WEEK 10: Isolated neutron stars and neutron stars in binary systems * Charles & Seward chapter 7: Massive X-ray binary stars * Charles & Seward chapter 8: Low-mass X-ray binary stars * Charles & Seward chapter 9: X-ray binaries in globular clusters * Melia chapter 6 on Accretion of Plasma * Melia section 9.2 on X-ray Pulsars * Melia section 11.1 on X-ray Burst Sources * Fabian notes on "The binary pulsar" WEEK 11: Neutron stars in binary systems and black holes in the Milky Way * Charles & Seward chapter 11: Are there black holes in our Galaxy? * Charles & Seward chapter 12: SS433-the link with AGN * Melia chapter 10 on Black Holes in Binaries * Nature article on "Microquasars in our Galaxy" WEEK 12: Black holes in the Milky Way and accretion flows * Melia chapter 7 on Accretion Disk Theory * Melia chapter 8 on Thick Accretion Disks * Fabian notes on "Accretion" and "Accreting black holes" WEEK 13: Normal galaxies, starburst galaxies and active galaxies * Charles & Seward chapter 6: Normal galaxies * Charles & Seward chapter 13: Active galactic nuclei * Melia chapter 12 on Supermassive Black Holes * Fabian notes on "Active galactic nuclei", "Jets and radio sources", "Superluminal motions and Doppler beaming" and "Beaming and unified models of AGN" WEEK 14: Active galaxies, gamma-ray bursts and clusters of galaxies * Charles & Seward chapter 14: Clusters of galaxies * Melia section 11.2 on Gamma-Ray Burst Sources * Melia section 13.2 on Galaxy Clusters * Fabian notes on "Gamma-ray bursts" WEEK 15: Clusters of galaxies, the extragalactic high-energy background, and cosmic rays * Charles & Seward chapter 16: The diffuse X-ray background * Melia section 13.1 on Cosmic Rays * Melia section 13.3 on Diffuse Emission * Physics Today article on "The highest-energy cosmic rays" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------