Astrophysical Flows

by James E. Pringle , Andrew King

• ISBN13: 9780521869362
• ISBN10: 0521869366
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Almost all conventional matter in the Universe is fluid, and fluid dynamics plays a crucial role in astrophysics. This new graduate textbook provides a basic understanding of the fluid dynamical processes relevant to astrophysics. The mathematics used to describe these processes is simplified to bring out the underlying physics. The authors cover many topics, including wave propagation, shocks, spherical flows, stellar oscillations, the instabilities caused by effects such as magnetic fields, thermal driving, gravity, shear flows, and the basic concepts of compressible fluid dynamics and magnetohydrodynamics. The authors are Directors of the UK Astrophysical Fluids Facility (UKAFF) at the University of Leicester, and editors of the Cambridge Astrophysics Series. This book has been developed from a course in astrophysical fluid dynamics taught at the University of Cambridge. It is suitable for graduate students in astrophysics, physics and applied mathematics, and requires only a basic familiarity with fluid dynamics.

Table of Contents

1. The basic fluid equations

2. Compressible media

3. Spherically symmetric flows

4. Stellar models and stellar oscillations

5. Stellar oscillations - waves in stratified media

6. Damping and excitation of stellar oscillations

7. Magnetic instability in a static atmosphere

8. Thermal instabilities

9. Gravitational instability

10. Linear shear flows

11. Rotating flows

12. Circular shear flow with self-gravity

13. Modes in rotating stars

14. Cylindrical shear flow - non-axisymmetric instability

References

Index.