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The purpose of this textbook is to provide a basic knowledge of the main parts of modern astrophysics for all those starting their studies in this field at the undergraduate level. The reader is supposed to have only a high school training in physics and mathematics. In many respects this Introduction to Advanced Astrophysics could represent a volume of the Berkeley Physics Course. Thus, the primary audience for this work is composed of students in astronomy, physics, mathematics, physical chemistry and engineering. It also includes high school teachers of physics and mathematics. Many amateur astronomers will fmd it quite accessible. In the frame of approximations proper to an introductory textbook, the treatment is quite rigorous. Therefore, it is also expected to provide a firm background for a study of advanced astrophysics on a postgraduate level. A rather severe selection is made here among various aspects of the Universe accessible to modern astronomy. This allows us to go beyond simple information on astronomical phenomena - to be found in popular books - and to insist upon explanations based on modern general physical theories. More precisely, our selection of topics is determined by the following considerations: The study of the solar system (the Moon and the planets) has recently progressed at a tremendous rate. However, the very rich harvest of observations provided by space research is mainly purely descriptive and is perfectly presented in review papers of Scien tific American, Science, Physics Today and similar magazines.
List of contents
I. Radiative Transfer and Internal Structure of Normal Stars.- 1. Introduction to the Theory of Radiative Transfer.- 2. Elementary Introduction to the Physics of Stellar Interiors.- 3. The Physics of Interiors of the Main Sequence Stars.- II. White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Pulsars.- 4. Elementary Properties of a Degenerate Fermi Gas.- 5. White Dwarfs.- 6. Neutron Stars.- 7. Pulsars.- III. Newton's Law, Binary Systems and Galactic X-ray Sources.- 8. Theory of Spectroscopic and Eclipsing Binaries. Stellar Masses.- 9. Galactic X-ray Sources.- IV. Cosmology: Elementary Theory and Basic Observational Data.- 10. Elementary Theoretical Cosmology: The Newtonian Approach.- 11. Basic Concepts of Relativistic Cosmology.- 12. Relativistic Effects in Observational Cosmology. The Cosmological Redshift in Expanding Universe.- 13. Basic Data in Observational Cosmology: Active Galactic Nuclei and Clusters of Galaxies.- Table of Values.
