------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SYLLABUS Astronomy 485: Introduction to High-Energy Astronomy 2023 Fall Offering The Pennsylvania State University University Park Campus ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tues Thurs, 1:35 PM - 2:50 PM 541 Davey Lab ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Instructor: W. Niel Brandt Instructor's office hours: Tues Thurs, 2:50 PM - 3:50 PM Instructor's office: 514A Davey Lab Instructor's phone: (814) 865-3509 Course web page: personal.science.psu.edu/wnb3/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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPECIFIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND BROADER AIMS The specific main objectives of this course are to learn about the following: (1) Some of the physics processes underlying high-energy astrophysics. For example, students should be able to apply understanding of the physics of radiative processes to deduce information about high-energy astrophysical sources from their spectra, variability, and spatial extent. (2) Some of the tools and methods used in high-energy astrophysics. For example, students should be able to explain, at a basic physics level, how cosmic high-energy photons and particles are detected and measured. (3) High-energy astrophysical sources in the cosmos, both Galactic and extragalactic. For example, students should be able to explain the physical processes, demographics, and environmental interactions relevant to these sources. (4) Future prospects for the field. For example, students should be aware of upcoming missions and projects in high-energy astrophysics. More broadly, my aim is to help prepare students so that they will be able to compete in graduate school and other challenging endeavors with strong students from other top programs in astronomy and physics. This approach should let students have the best long-term success in life. Note that the material for Astro 485 is inherently challenging, since the course covers a truly vast range of astrophysics. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A RELEVANT NOTE ABOUT THE SCOPE OF THE COURSE You will quickly come to realize that high-energy astrophysics is an enormous field. For example, it arguably covers as much of the electromagnetic spectrum and as many diverse phenomena as all of the rest of astrophysics. As a result, this course is stuffed, and even overstuffed, with exciting material. For this reason, difficult choices/cuts need to be made regarding the covered material, and many exciting topics will need to be skimmed over or even skipped entirely. My apologies in advance if your favorite topic is not covered at the level you think it deserves - this certainly doesn't mean that I think it unimportant! For this same reason, this course will also have a bias toward electromagnetic observations/interpretations, since there is simply not the time to give particle astrophysics and gravitational waves the full attention they richly deserve. I will cover particles and gravitational waves to the extent possible, weaving them into the overall flow of the course, but there are genuine limits to what can be covered due to the limited class time. Students who want to learn more about these topics should take Penn State's course on "Particle Astrophysics", often offered as ASTRO/PHYS 585. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. I'll be happy to go over the material again or try to explain it in a different way. Due to travel I may have over the semester, there may be some guest and/or make-up lectures. These will be arranged as needed. REFERENCES: There are two required textbooks for this course: * High-Energy Astrophysics - F. Melia Princeton Univ Press, 2009 (ISBN: 978-0-691-14029-2) * Exploring the X-ray Universe: Second Edition F.D. Seward and P.A. Charles Cambridge Univ Press, 2010 (ISBN: 978-0-521-88483-9) Together these books give an excellent introduction to high-energy astrophysics. I will furthermore provide material prepared by C.R. Canizares, A.C. Fabian, and G.P. Garmire; this material is on the course web page or the course Google drive. There are several other good books on high-energy astrophysics that will be useful for various parts of the course, and you should refer to these as the need arises. I have listed these books below, ordered by the last names of the first authors: * Astrophysics at Very High Energies F. Aharonian, L. Bergstrom, and C.D. Dermer Springer; 2013 (ISBN: 978-3642361333) * Handbook of X-ray Astronomy K. Arnaud, R. Smith, and A. Siemiginowska Cambridge Univ Press; 2011 (ISBN: 978-0521883733) * What Does a Black Hole Look Like? - C.D. Bailyn Princeton Univ Press; 2014 (ISBN: 978-0-691-14882-3) * Tutorial Guide to X-ray and Gamma-ray Astronomy C. Bambi, Editor Springer; 2020 (ISBN: 978-981-15-6336-2) * Supernova Explosions - D. Branch and J.C. Wheeler Springer; 2017 (ISBN: 978-3662550526) * The WSPC Handbook of Astronomical Instrumentation; Volumes 4 and 5 - D.N. Burrows, Editor in Chief World Scientific; 2021 (ISBN: 978-9814644310) * High-Energy Astrophysics - T.J.L. Courvoisier Springer; 2012 (ISBN: 978-3642309694) * High-Energy Radiation from Black Holes C.D. Dermer and G. Menon Princeton Univ Press; 2009 (ISBN: 978-0691144085) * Introduction to Particle and Astroparticle Physics A. De Angelis and M. Pimenta Springer; 2015 (ISBN: 978-8847026872) * Frontiers of X-ray Astronomy A.C. Fabian, K.A. Pounds, and R.D. Blandford Cambridge Univ Press; 2004 (ISBN: 0-521-53487-9) * Accretion Power in Astrophysics: Third Edition J. Frank, A. King, and D. Raine Cambridge Univ Press; 2002 (ISBN: 0-521-620538) * X-ray Detectors in Astronomy - G.W. Fraser Cambridge Univ Press; 1989 (Out of print) * Radiative Processes in High Energy Astrophysics G. Ghisellini Springer; 2013 (ISBN: 978-3319006116) * Modern General Relativity - M. Guidry Cambridge Univ Press; 2019 (ISBN: 978-1107197893) * High-Energy Astrophysics: A Primer - J. Horvath Springer; 2022 (ISBN: 978-3030921583) * High-Energy Spectroscopic Astrophysics S.M. Kahn, P. von Ballmoos, and R.A. Sunyaev Springer-Verlag; 2005 (ISBN: 3-540-40501-1) * High Energy Astrophysics - J.I. Katz Addison-Wesley; 1987 (ISBN: 0-201-11830-0) * Supermassive Black Holes - A. King Cambridge Univ Press; 2023 (ISBN: 978-1108488051) * Gamma-Ray Bursts C. Kouveliotou, R.A.M.J. Wijers, and S. Woosley Cambridge Univ Press; 2013 (ISBN: 978-0521662093) * High-Energy Astrophysics: Third Edition - M.S. Longair Cambridge Univ Press; 2011 (ISBN: 978-0-521-75618-1) * The Galactic Supermassive Black Hole - F. Melia Princeton Univ Press; 2007 (ISBN: 0-691-13129-5) * The High-Energy Universe - P. Meszaros Cambridge Univ Press; 2010 (ISBN: 978-0-521-51700-3) * The Physics and Evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei H. Netzer Cambridge Univ Press; 2013 (ISBN: 978-1-107-02151-8) * High Energy Astrophysical Techniques - R. Poggiani Springer; 2017 (ISBN: 978-3319447285) * Introduction to High-Energy Astrophysics S. Rosswog and M. Bruggen Cambridge Univ Press; 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-521-85769-7) * Radiative Processes in Astrophysics G.B. Rybicki and A.P. Lightman Wiley Interscience; 1979 (ISBN: 0-471-82759-2) * 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) * Particles and Astrophysics: A Multi-Messenger Approach Maurizio Spurio Springer; 2015 (ISBN: 978-3319080505) * X-ray Data Booklet - A. Thompson et al. LBNL Press; 2009 (Available at http://xdb.lbl.gov/) * The Universe in X-rays - J.E. Truemper and G. Hasinger Springer-Verlag; 2008 (ISBN: 978-3-540-34411-7) * Chandra's Cosmos: Dark Matter, Black Holes, and Other Wonders Revealed by NASA's Premier X-Ray Observatory - W. Tucker Smithsonian Books; 2017 (ISBN: 978-1588345875) * Foundations of High-Energy Astrophysics - M. Vietri Univ Chicago Press; 2008 (ISBN: 978-0-226-85569-1) * Physics and Evolution of Supernova Remnants - J. Vink Springer; 2020 (ISBN: 978-3030552299) * Very High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy - T.C. Weekes Inst of Physics Publishing; 2003 (ISBN: 0-7503-0658-0) * Chandra X-ray Observatory: Exploring the High Energy Universe B.J. Wilkes and W. Tucker, Editors IoP Publishing; 2020 (ISBN: 978-0750321617) * The Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts - B. Zhang Cambridge Univ Press; 2019 (ISBN: 978-1107027619) The Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library on the second floor of Davey Lab (201 Davey Lab) has copies of most of these books, and I have placed them on reserve for your use. Also, many of the books published by Springer are downloadable for free in PDF via "Get It Penn State" (librarians can help you with this if needed). 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 acquire some of the ones that are particularly interesting to you. GRADING: Your whole-course grade will be based on homework (40%), the midterm exam (25%), the final exam (25%), and class attendance/participation (10%). Students understandably have interest in their expected letter grades for the course. To help give you some guidance in this regard, I will commit to the following minimum letter grades: * If your weighted whole-course numerical score is 75% or higher, then you will get at least an "A" or "A-". * If your weighted whole-course numerical score is 65-75%, then you will get at least a "B+", "B", or "B-". * If your weighted whole-course numerical score is 55-65%, then you will get at least a "C+" or "C". I reserve the right to be more lenient than these minimum letter grades as circumstances dictate (i.e., to give higher letter grades that the minimums stated above). If this is done, it will be done systematically in a consistent manner for all relevant students. Extra credit work is not allowed in this course. HOMEWORK AND COLLABORATION POLICY: Homework sets will be assigned and due every other week. To maximize your learning from the homework, you are urged to start working on the problems several days before the deadline. This will allow time to think deeply about the problems, review relevant resources, and ask for help if needed. 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 long term. Therefore, please try each problem for at least 30 minutes before discussing it with others. 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 a 30-minute honest attempt at a problem, 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, whiteboard, or similar - but you may not look at each others papers or copy things off the blackboard afterward. Overall, this approach is NOT trying to prevent collaborative learning, which is certainly valuable. Instead, it is trying to achieve a healthy balance between individual and collaborative learning that will help your long-term success. Please write your homework solutions in a standard and extremely clear manner (clear writing by hand is fine). 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. The use of Mathematica and similar programs to check your homework solutions is allowed; however, when using these, you must still properly show your work in detail including all intermediate calculation steps. You should not just say things like "I plugged this integral into Mathematica, and the solution is 4x*ln(x)", but instead you should show how you did the integral. You may not use online sites (e.g., Course Hero or Chegg) to obtain answers to homework problems. Some of the homework sets instruct you to prepare short essays on relevant topics. For these essays, you may not use generative AI or similar technology (e.g., ChatGPT) to prepare any of the essay text. For the sake of your learning, the essays are expected to be prepared entirely by you. If you have any questions about allowed tools for the homework sets, please ask the instructor well in advance of the homework deadline. Unless announced otherwise, homework will be due at the *beginning* of the relevant class period (homework turned in later that same day will be treated as late). Homework must be turned in directly to Niel Brandt, and not to someone else such as the course grader. In the absence of a serious, documented medical excuse, late homework will receive only one-half credit - and homework more than one week late will receive no 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). You are allowed one submission of your homework; i.e., you cannot turn in part of your homework on time (for full credit) and another part of it late (for one-half credit). 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. Such appeals will be considered carefully. 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. To help your learning, after each homework deadline I will put a corresponding solution set on reserve in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library. EXAMS: There will be one midterm exam and one final exam. The midterm exam will cover all material up to the day of the exam. The final exam will cover material for the entire semester. On the exams, you will be responsible for material presented in class as well as material from the assigned readings. The exams will be closed book and closed notes. You may use basic, non-programmable calculators on the exams. Calculators with memories that can store equations and text are not allowed. Please bring plain white paper and a writing utensil to the exam. I will likely give you a sheet of cgs physical constants to use during the exam. The week for the midterm exam is listed below; it will be conducted during a normal class period (and hence be 50 minutes in length). The final exam will be at the nominal date and time (to be announced by the University registrar later in the semester) unless otherwise notified. The exams will be in the standard classroom unless otherwise notified. The midterm exam will have about 4-5 questions, and the final exam will have about 5-8 questions (many questions will have multiple parts). Questions will include definitions, physical explanations, brief calculations, and brief derivations. The questions will generally get more challenging toward the end of the exam, although question difficulty is somewhat subjective. You should work efficiently to score as many points as possible. To get full or partial credit, your written answers must be easily legible and must show your reasoning clearly. Please provide your solutions in the same order in which the questions are presented. In the absence of a serious, documented medical excuse, 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. CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: Class attendance and participation are important because they will help you learn. As such, they are part of the grade. To participate fully in this class, you should (1) come to class and pay attention, (2) answer questions when they are posed by the instructor, (3) ask questions in class when you don't understand the lecture, (4) perform standard tasks when requested by the instructor, (5) be courteous and friendly to your fellow students and the instructor, and (6) follow the general points on classroom conduct given below. The class attendance and participation component is not intended to be difficult. 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 if interested. HOW TO DO WELL: Here are a few tips on how to do well in Astro 485. * Read this syllabus carefully and refer to it often. Do not lose it. * Don't miss the exams or homework deadlines. * Make sure you complete the relevant reading before the start of each lecture. * Read the texts when you are well rested and can understand the challenging concepts therein clearly. * Don't fall behind in the reading. * Attend and pay attention during the lectures. Recall that there is a significant class-participation component in this course. * Take good lecture notes, since some in-class material is not in the texts. * Review your notes for 30-60 minutes on the same day that you took them. * Be certain that you understand all of the covered topics thoroughly. Try explaining them to your friends in the course and answering any questions that your friends have for you. Answering questions can sometimes reveal weaknesses in understanding. * Be certain that you can reproduce, and expand upon, all the mathematical derivations given in class and the readings. * Be certain that you have mastered the physical principles and calculations underlying all the homework problems. Try to re-work the problems entirely by yourself. * If I discussed a specific figure or chart during lecture, review this to be sure that you really understand it. Try to explain all of its details with the caption covered up. * Create study time that is shielded from other temptations and obligations. Extracurricular activities, social activities, and jobs can easily eat up all of your time. Systematically allocate your time so that your studies always have first priority. * Start your homework assignments well in advance of their due dates. This will give you enough time to do the significant associated work. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: This course follows the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, College, and University integrity policies. You are responsible for abiding by these policies, so please review them. See https://science.psu.edu/current-students/integrity http://undergrad.psu.edu/aappm/G-9-academic-integrity.html and Faculty Senate policy 49-20. Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception, and it is an educational objective of this institution. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following: cheating; plagiarizing; lying to the professor in any way; falsifying an excuse for missed work; copying the work of another student; giving or receiving answers to/from any other individual during exams; fabricating of information or citations; having unauthorized possession of exams or homework set solutions; giving or receiving information about exam questions in advance of taking an exam; using unauthorized aids during an exam; submitting the work of another person as your own; submitting your own work previously prepared for another class without informing the instructor; tampering with the academic work of other students; passing off material created by generative AI or similar technology (e.g., ChatGPT) as your own work; and facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others. I am passionate about academic integrity, since it is a foundation for building integrity in all aspects of our lives. Academic integrity is more than "don't cheat", though that is certainly part of it. Here are some reasons why academic integrity is so important: * You will learn more. * You will be happier and more committed if our class is cheating-free. * Cheating in school leads to more cheating and lying later in life, in all contexts. * Ethical decision making takes practice, and college is the best time to practice. * Cheating is contagious. Any written work that you submit may be analyzed with plagiarism-detection software, so be sure that any writing you do for this course, no matter how short or long, is completely in your own words except where otherwise clearly cited. Plagiarism is one of the most frequently committed violations of academic integrity in college classes. Ignorance is not a valid defense for plagiarism. Educate yourself about what constitutes plagiarism so you do not get into trouble. Any instances of academic dishonesty will be pursued under University and College regulations concerning academic integrity. In this class there will be no warnings, even for a first offense. Academic dishonesty can result in assignment of a course grade of "F" by the course instructor, or "XF" by Judicial Affairs. CODE OF MUTUAL RESPECT AND COOPERATION: The Eberly College of Science Code of Mutual Respect and Cooperation embodies the values that we hope our faculty, staff, and students possess and will endorse to make the Eberly College of Science a place where every individual feels respected and valued, as well as challenged and rewarded. Please visit the following link to review the 12 points that comprise this code: science.psu.edu/climate-and-diversity/code-mutual-respect-and-cooperation GENERAL CLASSROOM CONDUCT: Please turn off cell phones before the start of each class. Please do not read newspapers, Facebook, Instagram, etc. or listen to music etc. during class. Please do not text message, chat, etc. 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. CLASSROOM RECORDINGS: Surreptitious recording of classroom speech and activity may exert a chilling effect on the academic freedom of both students and professors. It may also affect their privacy rights. Audio, video, or photographic recording should not be done without the clear consent of all present (i.e., all students in the class and the professor). This is consistent with Pennsylvania's "two-party consent" laws for recording. For further information, please refer to Penn State Policy AD-40. In some special cases, I may need to record lectures to share with students who cannot attend class in person. Your attendance of Astro 485 implies willingness to be recorded in this way. OFFICE HOURS AND QUESTIONS: You may come to my office hours for help learning the course material. Please just let me know after class if you'll be coming to office hours. Sometimes, office hours may be held online via Zoom (I will provide the Zoom link as needed). If you cannot make the appointed times, please contact me to make an appointment. LEARNING ASSISTANCE: The Eberly College of Science is committed to the academic success of students enrolled in the College's courses and undergraduate programs. When in need of help, students can utilize various College and University wide resources for learning assistance. For further information, please see science.psu.edu/current-students/student-services/academics-and-advising DISABILITIES: Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University's educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. The Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contact information for every Penn State campus (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/disability-coordinator). For further information, please visit Student Disability Resources website (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/). In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation; see the documentation guidelines (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/guidelines). If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations. COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES: Many students at Penn State face personal challenges or have psychological needs that may interfere with their academic progress, social development, or emotional well-being. The University offers a variety of confidential services to help you through difficult times, including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, consultations, online chats, and mental health screenings. These services are provided by staff who welcome all students and embrace a philosophy respectful of clients' cultural and religious backgrounds, and are sensitive to differences in race, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. See * Counseling and Psychological Services at University Park (CAPS) (http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/): 814-863-0395 * Penn State Crisis Line (24 hours/7 days/week): 877-229-6400 Crisis Text Line (24 hours/7 days/week): Text LIONS to 741741 COVID-19 AND RELATED HEALTH POLICIES: In this course, we will follow the official Penn State policies regarding COVID-19. Please see https://virusinfo.psu.edu for further information. We will also follow the official Penn State policies regarding any other public health safety matters. By taking this course, you are agreeing to follow these policies as needed. REPORT BIAS STATEMENT: Penn State takes great pride to foster a diverse and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff. Acts of intolerance, discrimination, or harassment due to age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religious belief, sexual orientation, or veteran status are not tolerated and can be reported through Educational Equity via the Report Bias web page (http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/). 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 a wide variety of astronomical facilities, often operating in the high-energy band, to study the physics, evolution, and ecology of active galaxies and other cosmic X-ray sources. He is an author of more than 630 research papers and leads a small research group including postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. He also regularly teaches courses on high-energy astrophysics, black holes, and active galaxies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. The books below are listed by author last name; see above for full reference information for these books. WEEK 01: Introduction and Physics Concepts Needed in High-Energy Astrophysics * Seward & Charles chapter 1: Birth and Childhood of X-ray Astronomy * Melia chapter 1: Introduction and Motivation * Seward & Charles chapter 2: X-ray Emission and Interaction with Matter * Garmire notes on cross sections and photoelectric absorption WEEK 02: Physics Concepts Needed in High-Energy Astrophysics * Seward & Charles chapter 5: X-ray Absorption and Scattering in the Interstellar Medium * Melia chapter 5: Radiative Processes * Garmire notes on bremsstrahlung, free-free absorption, radiative recombination, and line radiation * Canizares notes on line radiation and spectroscopy WEEK 03: Physics Concepts Needed in High-Energy Astrophysics * Melia chapter 5: Radiative Processes * Longair sections 9.2-9.4 on Thomson and Compton Scattering, Inverse Compton Scattering, and Comptonization * Longair sections 9.8-9.10 on Electron-Positron Pair Processes * Rybicki & Lightman pages 167-175 on cyclotron and synchrotron radiation (don't agonize over the details) WEEK 04: Physics Concepts Needed in High-Energy Astrophysics and the Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics * Seward & Charles page 199 on the Eddington limit * Melia chapter 4: Particle Acceleration * Longair sections 11.3 and 11.4 on Shock Waves and the Earth's Magnetosphere * Seward & Charles chapter 3: Tools and Techniques WEEK 05: The Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics * Seward & Charles chapter 3: Tools and Techniques * Melia section 1.4 on Experimental Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics * Melia section 1.5 on High-Energy Telescopes * Physics Today article on "Exploring the Extreme Universe with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope" WEEK 06: Maps of the High-Energy Sky, Solar System Objects, and Stellar High-Energy Emission * Melia chapter 2: The High-Energy Sky * Seward & Charles chapter 4: Solar System X-rays * Seward & Charles chapter 6: Active Stellar Coronae * Seward & Charles chapter 7: Early-Type Stars WEEK 07: Supernovae and Supernova Remnants * Seward & Charles chapter 8: Supernova Explosions and Their Remnants * Fabian notes on "Supernovae" and "Supernova remnants" * Nature article on "Supernova Explosions in the Universe" WEEK 08: Isolated White Dwarfs and White Dwarfs in Binary Systems * Longair sections 13.2 and 13.3 on White Dwarfs and the Chandrasekhar Limit * Fabian notes on "Degeneracy pressure", "White dwarfs" and "Binary stars" * Seward & Charles chapter 10: Cataclysmic Variable Stars * Melia section 9.3 on Cataclysmic Variables WEEK 09: Isolated Neutron Stars * Seward & Charles chapter 9: Neutron Stars, Pulsars, Pulsar Wind Nebulae, and More Supernova Remnants * 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 * Seward & Charles chapter 11: X-ray binaries * Melia chapter 6: 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 Galaxy * Seward & Charles chapter 11: X-ray binaries * Seward & Charles chapter 12: Black-Hole X-ray Binaries * Melia chapter 10: Black Holes in Binaries WEEK 12: Black Holes in the Galaxy and Accretion Flows * Seward & Charles chapter 12: Black-Hole X-ray Binaries * Melia chapter 7: Accretion Disk Theory * Melia chapter 8: Thick Accretion Disks * Fabian notes on "Accretion" and "Accreting black holes" WEEK 13: Normal Galaxies, Starburst Galaxies, and Active Galaxies * Seward & Charles chapter 13: Normal and Starburst Galaxies * Seward & Charles chapter 14: Active Galactic Nuclei * Melia chapter 12: 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 and Clusters of Galaxies * Seward & Charles chapter 14: Active Galactic Nuclei * Seward & Charles chapter 15: Clusters of Galaxies * Melia section 13.2 on Galaxy Clusters WEEK 15: The Extragalactic High-Energy Background, Gamma-Ray Bursts, High-Energy Particle Astrophysics, and Gravitational Waves * Seward & Charles chapter 16: The Diffuse X-ray Background * Melia section 13.3 on Diffuse Emission * Seward & Charles chapter 17: Gamma-Ray Bursts * Melia section 11.2 on Gamma-Ray Burst Sources * Browse through Spurio's book * Browse through www.ligo.caltech.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------