ASTR 5110 Fall 2013 Homepage
ASTR 5110 Atomic and Molecular Physics Spring 2013: Notes
Statistical Mechanics
For the first part of this course, on statistical mechanics,
I will be lecturing from my own notes on
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 one that was first published in 1972,
and is now in its 3rd edition:
- R. K. Pathria and Paul D. Beale (2011) “Statistical Mechanics” (Academic Press).
Atomic and Molecular Physics
The required text is
-
Jonathan Tennyson (2011)
“Astronomical Spectroscopy: An Introduction to the Atomic and Molecular Physics of Astronomical Spectra, 2nd Edn.” (World Scientific).
This text is well-suited to this course.
If your future includes observations of astrophysical or planetary spectra,
then this is a good book to invest in.
The problems are too abstract, given the practical nature of the book:
I would prefer problems more closely tied
to observations of astronomical objects.
An optional text is
-
George B. Rybicki & Alan P. Lightman (1979)
“Radiative Processes in Astrophysics” (Wiley-VCH).
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 suitable for other courses that you may take.
The last 3 chapters cover atomic and molecular physics,
but too briefly for this course.
The problem sets are nice.
Here are some of the notes that I have written for this course:
ASTR 5110 Fall 2013 Homepage
Updated 2013 Aug 26