Class Times/Dates
Class will meet twice weekly on Tuesday and Thursdays from 4:00pm to 5:15pm in J. W. Gibbs 263. There will be classes during reading week. The course syllabus can be found below.
Course Description
Stellar dynamics attempts to answer the following question: what happens when you have a large number of particles (stars) orbiting under the influence of their mutual gravity? This course will cover the dynamics of objects ranging from binary stars to globular clusters to galaxies. Particular emphasis will be placed on direct applications to observational data.
Textbook
The textbook for the course is the second edition of Galactic Dynamics by Binney & Tremaine (2008, Princeton University Press). The new edition contains significant additional topics and updated observational data over the first edition which was originally published in 1987.
Also recommended, but not required is Galactic Astronomy by Binney & Merrifield (1998, Princeton University Press) and is also available in the Astronomy library.
Evaluation
Grading will be divided as follows. Details on each part can be found in the syllabus:
40% Problem sets. There will be 4 to 6 sets in total which will be given out roughly every other week. I encourage interactions with other students on the problem sets, however the answers should be presented in your own words and style.
30% Midterm exam in class on April 12, 2012
30% Final presentation
Syllabus
The syllabus provides details on grading and class expectations. Readings will be assigned and should be completed BEFORE each lecture. I will hand out my lecture notes at the start of each class. The following is a tentative schedule for topics which will be updated and modified as the semester progresses.
| DATE | LECTURE | READING |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Tues Jan 10 2. Thur Jan 12 |
Introduction Dynamical Timescales |
BT 1.0-1.2 BT 2.2.1-2, 2.6.1 |
|
3. Tues Jan 17 4. Thur Jan 19 |
Potential Theory I Potential Theory II | HW#1 due |
BT 2.3, 2.5.3, 2.7 BT 3.1 |
|
5. Tues Jan 24 6. Thur Jan 26 |
The Two-Body Problem Orbits in Axisymmetric Potentials | BT 3.2, 3.3 BT 4.1, 4.2, old BT 4.1 |
|
7. Tues Jan 31 0. Thurs Feb 2 |
The Collisionless Boltzmann Equation I | HW#2 due No Class |
BT 4.8.1-2, 4.9 |
|
8. Tues Feb 7 9. Thurs Feb 9 10. Fri Feb 10 |
The Collisionless Boltzmann Equation II The Collisionless Boltzmann Equation III The Tensor Virial Equation HW#3 due | |
|
0. Tues Feb 14 0. Thur Feb 16 |
No Class No Class |
|
|
11. Tues Feb 21 12. Thur Feb 23 |
Integrals of Motion Orbit-Based Modeling |
|
|
13. Tues Feb 28 14. Thur Mar 1 15. Fri Mar 2 |
Kinematical Observations N-body Modeling I N-Body Modeling II |
|
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Tues Mar 6/8 Thur Mar 13/15 |
SPRING BREAK | |
|
16. Tues Mar 20 17. Thur Mar 22 |
Relaxation Mechanisms Collisions & Encounters |
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18. Tues Mar 27 19. Thur Mar 29 |
Dynamical Friction The Impulse Approximation |
|
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20. Tues Apr 3 21. Thur Apr 5 |
Fokker-Planck Equation Jeans Instablity |
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22. Tues Apr 10 23. Thur Apr 12 |
Spiral Structure MIDTERM EXAM |
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24. Tues Apr 17 25. Thur Apr 19 |
Student Presentations Student Presentations |
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|
26. Tues Apr 24 27. Thur Apr 26 |
Student Presentations Student Presentations |
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