Time: MWF 9:00-9:55am

Room: Cahill 219

Instructor: Jim Fuller

Units: 9 (3-0-6)

Student Level: graduate students and seniors

Website: http://www.tapir.caltech.edu/~fuller/Ay101/

Textbooks:

Topics:
  • Thermodynamics, equation of state, convection, opacity, radiative transfer, stellar atmospheres, nuclear reactions, and stellar models.
  • Evolution of low- and high-mass stars, supernovae, and binary stars.

Grading:
  • Five problem sets, each worth 10% of final grade
  • Oral midterm, worth 20% of final grade
  • Written, take-home final exam, worth 30% of final grade

Homework Policy:

Please attempt to solve the problems on your own before consulting other students. You may consult books and published papers but not old homework solutions from this or any other class. After that, discussion of hte problems with other students in this class to improve your understanding of the underlying physics is permitted and encouraged. However, you may not copy homework solutions.

The formal Ay101 policy is that students can freely discuss the problems, but they need to work out solutions on their own without referring to others' solutions.

Homework is due by 11:59 pm on the dates indicated. Limited extensions can be obtained by emailing Mia or Jim in advance. In the absence of an extension, grades are reduced by 10% for each day that the homework is late.

Class Schedule:

Reading assignments are indicated by HKT (Hansen, Kawaler, & Trimble) and KWW (Kippenhahn, Weigert, & Weiss).