ASTR 5110 Internal Processes 1 Fall 1999: Texts

Statistical Mechanics

For the first part of this course, on statistical mechanics, I will be lecturing from my own notes on

Classical Statistical Mechanics of Ideal Gases (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).

You may find it helpful to use another text, and you are welcome to choose whatever text you prefer. The statistical mechanics textbook mostly commonly recommended in this course is

R. K. Pathria (1972) ``Statistical Mechanics'' (Pergamon).

Atomic and Molecular Physics

I have prepared notes on a number of specific topics for this part of the course. In contrast to the statistical mechanics notes, I will for the most part not be lecturing from these notes; rather the notes provide additional depth, filling in many details which there will not be time to cover in class.

Mathematical Structure of Nonrelativistic Quantum Mechanics (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Perturbation Theory (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Angular Momentum (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Hydrogen Atom without Spin (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Spin in Atoms (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Transition Probabilities and Selection Rules (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).
Collisions (TeX; gzip'd PostScript).

The `required' text for the atomic and molecular physics part of the course is

C. R. Kitchin (1995) ``Optical Astronomical Spectroscopy'' (IOP Publishing). The first 6 chapters (the first 40%) of this book cover pretty much what IP1 is supposed to be all about. The middle part of the book covers spectroscopic techniques, which might come in useful in ASTR 5750 Observational Astronomy or ASTR 5760 Astronomical Instrumentation. The last few chapters very briefly cover some applications of spectroscopy in astronomy.
The principal drawback of the book is that it does not go into quite the depth one might hope for in a text at the graduate level (to be fair, the book is stated to be aimed at UK undergraduates). The text could have done with many more references. It also lacks problem sets, which is a pity.

As supplementary reading on molecular physics, I recommend

Chapter 3 (58 pages) of R. M. Goody & Y. L. Yung (1989) ``Atmospheric Radiation'' (Oxford Univ. Press).

Some alternative texts which you might find useful are

G. B. Rybicki & A. P. Lightman (1979) ``Radiative Processes in Astrophysics'' (Wiley). This is a classic and excellent text, but it focuses on relativistic processes, with chapters on bremsstrahlung, synchrotron radiation, and Compton scattering, which might be more appropriate for ASTR 5710 High Energy. The last 3 chapters cover atomic and molecular physics, but too briefly for IP1. The problem sets are nice.
Frank H. Shu (1991) ``The Physics of Astrophysics: Radiation'' (Univ Science Books). This book evolved out of a course similar to IP1 given by the author at Berkeley. Although not bad, the choice of topics and the depth of presentation is somewhat uneven and idiosynchratic, and this text has not been deemed successful by previous cohorts of graduate students.
J. M. Shull uses his own hand-written notes in this course, and has indicated that one of these days he will write them into a book, a culmination to which we much look forward.

ASTR 5110 Fall 99 Homepage

Updated 19 Oct 1999