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Module Title
LM Relativistic Astrophysics
School
Physics and Astronomy
Department
Physics & Astronomy
Module Code
03 30682
Module Lead
Professor Alberto Vecchio
Level
Masters Level
Credits
10
Semester
Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions
None
Exclusions
Description
White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes and the early universe represent the most extreme environments in nature, where quantum mechanics meets general relativity.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Have a firm grasp of the evolutionary fate of massive stars, including degenerate stars (white dwarfs and neutron stars) and the Chandrasekhar mass
Derive the key properties of accretion onto neutron stars and black holes, including the Eddington limit-
Have a firm understanding of pulsar physics
Derive the key properties of tidal disruption events
Derive the emission of gravitational waves from binary systems and have a firm grasp of the detectability of gravitational-wave signals
Have a firm grasp of the tests of general relativity on all scales (e.g., binary pulsars, gravitational waves)
Have a firm grounding in the physics of cosmic explosions: supernovae, kilonovae, gamma ray bursts and derive the salient features of their timescales and energetics
Have a firm grounding in the concept of cosmic backgrounds