Astrophysics II

Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions/week, 1.5 hours/session

Course Description

This course broadly covers galactic dynamics and large scale structure in the universe. Major topics include galaxies, cosmology, structure formation, cosmic microwave background, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and thermal history of the universe. Specific topics within these groups include the following:

• Galactic dynamics: potential theory, orbits, collisionless Boltzmann equation, etc.
• Galaxy interactions
• Groups and clusters: dark matter 
• Intergalactic medium: x-ray clusters
• Active galactic nuclei: unified models, black hole accretion, radio and optical jets, etc.
• Homogeneity and isotropy, redshift, galaxy distance ladder
• Newtonian cosmology
• Robertson-Walker models and cosmography
• Early universe, primordial nucleosynthesis, recombination
• Cosmic microwave background radiation
• Large-scale structure, galaxy formation

Course Outline in Brief

Chapter I: Galaxies

1. Key Observations of Galaxies
2. Structure of Galaxies
3. Models of Galaxies

Chapter II: Cosmology

1. Basics of Cosmology
2. Structure Formation

Chapter III: CMB, BBN, Thermal History

1. Basic Picture of the CMB
2. Thermal History of the Universe
3. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

Chapter IV: Selected Topics

1. Lyman-Alpha

Important Course Dates:

Session 1: First class                
Session 4: Problem set 1 due                
Session 8: Problem set 2 due                
Session 10: No class—Indigenous People’s Day                
Session 11: Problem set 3 due                
Session 14: Midterm due (weighted as a problem set)                
Session 16: Problem set 4 due                
Session 20: Problem set 5 due                
Session 23: No class—Thanksgiving                
Session 24: Problem set 6 due                
Session 27: Project presentations                
Session 28: Last class                
Final exam: TBD

Assignments

There are 7 problem sets, including the midterm assignment, which will contribute evenly to the final grade. Problem sets with computational components are assigned two weeks in advance of their due date, and those without are assigned 1–1.5 weeks in advance (depending on where holidays fall). Contact the course TA for extensions or if you have questions or concerns about the assignments and grades.

Numerical Project

The final project for the course will be released on session 21 and due on session 28. For the project, students will work in groups of around 3 to run a cosmological simulation using the Gadget-4 code, which is a state-of-the-art cosmological code used in the field of galaxy formation simulations. Students will then analyze the output by examining the resulting dark matter density and writing their own halo finder code. The final product will be a presentation during the second-to-last class of the semester, approximately 15 minutes long, depending on the number of groups.

Grading

The breakdown for the final grade is as follows:      

• Problem sets: 50%       
• Project: 30%       
• Final exam: 20%

Recommended Textbooks

Binney, James, and Scott Tremaine. 2011. Galactic Dynamics , 2^nd edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691130279.

Mo, Houjun, Frank Van den Bosch, and Simon D. M White. 2012. Galaxy Formation and Evolution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521857932.