I. Iben – Stellar Evolution Physics (2 Volume set)

Автор: I. Iben
Название книги: Stellar Evolution Physics (2 Volume set)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Астрономия
Страницы: 908+618
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

This text describes the microscopic physics operating in stars and demonstrates how stars respond from formation, through hydrogen-burning phases, up to the onset of helium burning. Intended for beginning graduate students and senior undergraduates with a solid background in physics, it illustrates the intricate interplay between the microscopic physical processes and the stars' macroscopic responses. The volume starts with the gravitationally contracting phase which carries the star from formation to the core hydrogen-burning main sequence, through the main sequence phase, through shell hydrogen-burning phases as a red giant, up to the onset of core helium burning. Particular emphasis is placed on describing the gravothermal responses of stars to nuclear transformations in the interior and energy loss from the surface, responses which express the very essence of stellar evolution. The volume is replete with many illustrations and detailed numerical solutions to prepare the reader to program and calculate evolutionary models.
Provides the most in-depth treatment of microscopic input physics and the macroscopic responses, emphasising the interplay between them
Instils an appreciation of how a star responds gravothermally to nuclear reaction-induced transformations and energy loss from the surface
Emphasises methods for obtaining numerical solutions enabling students to construct their own stellar evolutionary models
Over 300 illustrations describe in detail the structural characteristics and the physical processes occurring in stellar models
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview:
Qualitative description of single and binary star evolution
Quantitative foundations of stellar evolution theory
Basic Physical Processes in Stellar Interiors:
Properties of and physical processes in the interiors of main sequence stars – order of magnitude estimates
Statistical physics, thermodynamics, and equations of state
Polytropes and single zone models: elementary tools for understanding some aspects of stellar structure and evolution
Hydrogen-burning nuclear reactions and energy-generation rates
Photon-matter interactions and opacity
Equations of stellar evolution and methods of solution
Pre-Main Sequence, Main Sequence, and Shell Hydrogen Burning Evolution of Single Stars:
Star formation and evolution to the main-sequence
Solar structure and neutrino physics
Evolution during core hydrogen-burning phases up to the onset of helium burning

Transport Processes, Weak Interaction Processes and Helium-Burning Reactions:
Diffusion and gravitational settling
Heat conduction by electrons
Beta decay and electron capture at high densities in stars
The current-current weak interaction and the production of neutrino-antineutrino pairs
Helium-burning nuclear reactions and energy-generation rates
Evolution during Helium-Burning Phases:
Evolution of a low mass model burning helium and hydrogen
Evolution of an intermediate mass model burning helium and hydrogen
Neutron production and neutron capture in a thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch star of intermediate mass
Evolution of a massive population I model during helium- and carbon-burning stages
Terminal Evolution of Low and Intermediate Mass Stars:
Wind mass loss on the AGB and formation of a circumstellar envelope, evolution of the remnant as the central star of a planetary nebula, and white dwarf evolution