Astronomy 626

ASTROPHYSICAL DYNAMICS

Joshua Barnes

Spring 1995

This course discusses the structure and dynamics of galaxies, theories of galaxy formation, evolution of star clusters, and some aspects of active galactic nuclei. The goal is to integrate observational data on these systems within a coherent theoretical framework.

Course Information

• Text: Galactic Dynamics by James Binney & Scott Tremaine
• Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30 to 2:45
• Place: Institute for Astronomy, room C-221 (Fern Room)
• Annotated reading list

Course Outline

Here is a list of topics, to be updated as needed. I will begin with systems which may be described in terms of collisionless stellar dynamics before going on to discuss systems involving gas dynamics and collisional stellar dynamics.

• Preliminaries: Mechanics and Morphology
  • Overview of galactic morphology
  • Particle mechanics
• Elliptical Galaxies
  • Observations of E galaxies
  • Collisionless stellar-dynamical systems
  • Dispersion and mass profiles
  • Rotation of E galaxies
  • Spherical galaxy models: Jeans theorem
  • Axisymmetric models
  • Triaxial models
  • Disks, dust, cold gas, & shells
• Disk Galaxies
  • Observations of disk galaxies
  • Populations & components of the Milky Way
  • Kinematics of the solar neighborhood
  • Local stability of disk galaxies
  • Theories of spiral structure
  • Vertical structure of thin disks
  • Bars in disk galaxies
  • Probes of dark halos
• Dwarf Galaxies
  • Dark matter in dwarf galaxies
• Galaxy Formation
  • Gravitational instability
  • Clustering of dark matter
  • Dissipation in galaxy formation
  • Dynamical friction
  • Dynamics of interactions & mergers
• Dense Stellar Stystems
  • Collisional evolution of stellar systems
  • Evolution of globular clusters
  • Processes in galactic nuclei

Final Exam

The final exam will be handed out on Monday, May 8 at 1 PM, and collected at 1 PM on May 9. The exam is open-book and open-notes. For a copy of the exam, click here.

Last modified: May 2, 1995