This is an advanced graduate-level course covering the essentials of radiation processes in astrophysics.
At the conclusion of this course, you should
- understand basic concepts of radiation (from Maxwell to light) and radiative transfer
- understand black body radiation
- understand radiation from moving charges
- understand bremsstrahlung
- understand synchrotron radiation
- understand basic concepts of radioactive decay
- understand atomic structure, line emission, photoabsorption, collisional ionization, line diagnostics
- understand molecular structure
- understand emission from molecules
Dr. Wolfgang Kerzendorf
Assistant Professor
Office: 3250 Biomedical and Physical Sciences
Office hours: By appointment
[email protected]
The class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 6:20 pm in BPS 1300.
Lecture notes will be posted http://github.com/wkerzendorf/radtrans2019
The primary vehicle for communication regarding this course will be Slack.
Specifically, there is a rad-trans-fall2019 channel in the AstroMSU Slack workspace.
You may use your @msu.edu email address to join this Slack workspace.
Please join this Slack workspace.
Discussion of course subject material and problems is encouraged.
You may also send direct messages via Slack to the instructor or any other member of the workspace.
See Resources in the main folder for a link to resources. See the resources.rst file in each of the lecture subfolders for resources for that specific lecture.
There will be reading and problem sets assigned on a roughly weekly basis. See Assignments for a complete listing (forthcoming 2nd week of class). See the resources.rst in each folder for the assigned watching of videos and reading. You will be expected to complete the reading prior to class as not all the reading material will be covered in lecture, but you will need to know it in order to complete the problems.
Group work on the problem sets is encouraged and you are encouraged to turn in the problem sets with a maximum of 3 names assigned. No rule of scholarly activity is more important than giving proper credit to the contributions of others. Although you are free to work with classmates on assignments, you must explicitly acknowledge them by name and indicate their contributions in your final write-up. I will attempt to facilitate a peer-review process in the class for the grading process.
There is a tentative schedule.
You will be required to complete a final project for the course. The final projects will be done alone. See Projects for forthcoming details.
There will be no final exam but you will be required to make a presentation about your final project.
The weights for the course grade are as follows.
| Category | % |
|---|---|
| Problem sets | 40% |
| Final project | 50% |
| In-class participation | 10% |
The final course grade will be assigned based on the following scale.
| Grade | Overall % |
|---|---|
| 4.0 | >=90 |
| 3.5 | >=83 |
| 3.0 | >=76 |
| 2.5 | >=68 |
| 2.0 | >=62 |
| 1.5 | >=55 |
| 1.0 | >=45 |
Your final grade will be no lower than that indicated on the above scale, though it may be higher, depending on overall class performance.
As a Spartan, I will strive to uphold values of the highest ethical standard. I will practice honesty in my work, foster honesty in my peers, and take pride in knowing that honor is worth more than grades. I will carry these values beyond my time as a student at Michigan State University, continuing the endeavor to build personal integrity in all that I do.