Introduction to High-Energy Astrophysics

by Stephan Rosswog , Marcus Brüggen

• ISBN13: 9780521674423
• ISBN10: 0521674425
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-03-03
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

High-energy astrophysics covers cosmic phenomena that occur under the most extreme physical conditions. It explores the most violent events in the Universe: the explosion of stars, matter falling into black holes, and gamma-ray bursts - the most luminous explosions since the Big Bang. Driven by a wealth of new observations, the last decade has seen a large leap forward in our understanding of these phenomena. Exploring modern topics of high-energy astrophysics, such as supernovae, neutron stars, compact binary systems, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei, this textbook is ideal for undergraduate students in high-energy astrophysics. It is a self-supporting, timely overview of this exciting field of research. Assuming a familiarity with basic physics, it introduces all other concepts, such as gas dynamics or radiation processes, in an instructive way. An extended appendix gives an overview of some of the most important high-energy astrophysics instruments, and each chapter ends with exercises.

Table of Contents

Preface

Special relativity

Gas processes

Radiation processes

Supernovae

Neutron stars, pulsars and magnetars

Compact binary systems

Gamma-ray bursts

Active galactic nuclei

Some recent high-energy astrophysics instruments

Physical constants

Distances

Luminosity, brightness, magnitude, colour

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.