Course Topics for Astronomy 4101B, Stellar Astrophysics

1. Basic Physics of Stars
   • free-fall time
   • thermal and degeneracy pressure
   • self-energies and internal energies
   • energy sources: chemical, gravitational, nuclear
   • age of the sun
   • nuclear energy, E = m c²
   • quantum tunneling
   • binding energy of nuclei
   • cosmic abundances
   • minimum and maximum stellar masses


2. Stellar Structure
   • hydrostatic equilibrium
   • polytropic spheres
   • isothermal sphere
   • Bonnor-Ebert sphere
   • equations of stellar structure
   • conduction
   • radiative diffusion
   • convection
   • opacity
   • virial theorem
   • specific heat of stars


3. A Survey of Stars
   • temperatures
   • masses
   • binarity
   • H-R diagram
   • mass-luminosity relation
   • mass-lifetime relation
   • initial mass function (IMF)
   • pulsating stars
   • magnetic fields in stars
   • heating of the solar corona
   • the solar dynamo
   • solar neutrino problem


4. Stellar Evolution
   • overview
   • numerical solution of evolution
   • phases of evolution
   • the Sun
   • effect of varying initial mass
   • pulsations
   • supernovae


5. End States
   • white dwarfs
   • neutron stars
   • black holes
   • total energy budget