Astronomy 626

ASTROPHYSICAL DYNAMICS

Joshua Barnes

Spring 1997

This course discusses the structure, stability, and dynamical evolution of galaxies and other stellar systems. The goal is to interpret observational data on these systems within a coherent theoretical and numerical framework.

Course Information

• Text: Galactic Dynamics by James Binney & Scott Tremaine
• Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 to 3:30
• Place: Institute for Astronomy, room C-221 (Fern Room)
• Annotated references

Course Outline

• Galaxies
  • 1. Morphology & classification
  • 2. Properties of elliptical galaxies
  • 3. Centers, isophotes, disks, gas, & shells
  • 4. Properties of disk galaxies
  • 5. Populations & components of the Milky Way
• Mechanics
  • 6. Second-order dynamical systems
  • 7. Gravitational potentials
  • 8. Orbits
  • 9. Stellar-dynamical systems
  • 10. N-body methods
• Spheroids
  • 11. Jeans theorem & applications
  • 12. Dispersion & mass profiles
  • 13. Rotation & velocity anisotropy
  • 14. Axisymmetric & triaxial models
  • 15. Instabilities in spheroidal systems
• Disks
  • 16. Kinematics of the solar neighborhood
  • 17. Local stability of disk galaxies
  • 18. Theories of spiral structure
  • 19. The bar instability
  • 20. Warped disk galaxies
• Halos
  • 21. Halos in giant galaxies
  • 22. Halos in dwarf galaxies
  • 23. Formation of dark halos
• Transformations
  • 24. Tidal interactions
  • 25. Mechanics of merging
  • 26. Fueling starbursts
• Dense Stellar Stystems
  • 27. Globular clusters
  • 28. Galactic nuclei

Final Project

A cooperative project to model damped Lyman-alpha systems will take the place of a final exam. Follow this link for details.

Last modified: April 22, 1997