Nuclei in the Cosmos

The following sections are included:

• Preface

• Contents

The following sections are included:

• Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics

• The Milky Way

• Dark Matter

• Hertzsprung–Russell Diagram
  • Luminosity
  • Magnitudes
  • Color index
  • Mass–luminosity relation
  • Stellar evolution

• Hubble’s Law

• Stars and Galaxies

• Principles and Observations

• Cosmic Microwave Background

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Friedmann Equation
  • Energy and pressure
  • Friedmann equation
  • The cosmological constant
  • Energy density and dark energy
  • Static Universe
  • Matter and radiation profiles
  • The age of the Universe

• Solutions of the Friedmann Equation
  • Deceleration parameter
  • Flat Universe
  • Closed Universe
  • Open Universe
  • The flatness problem
  • The horizon problem

• The Curvature of Space-Time
  • Einstein field equations
  • The FRW metric
  • The Schwarzschild metric
  • Gravitational waves
  • Black holes
  • Inflation

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Properties of Elementary Particles
  • Antiparticles
  • Spin, isospin and baryonic number
  • Strangeness and hypercharge
  • Quarks and gluons

• Nuclear Properties
  • Sizes
  • Binding energies
  • Angular momentum
  • Excited states
  • Nuclear stability

• Nuclear Models
  • The liquid drop model
  • Non-relativistic Fermi gas
  • Fermi gas at T ≠ 0
  • The Fermi gas model of the nucleus
  • The shell model
  • Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Interaction of Radiation with Matter
  • Lifetime of unstable states
  • Decay rate of unstable states
  • Multipole radiation
  • Selection rules

• Propagation of Radiation
  • Radiation intensity
  • Radiative energy transport
  • The equation of radiative transfer

• Blackbody Radiation
  • Boltzmann law
  • Planck’s law
  • Stefan–Boltzmann law

• Radiation in Stellar Plasmas
  • Stellar atmospheres
  • Einstein coefficients
  • Maxwell’s velocity distribution
  • Saha equation

• Opacities in Stars
  • Absorption and emission coefficients
  • Bound–bound transitions — oscillator strength

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Nuclear Scattering

• Partial Wave Expansion
  • Low energy scattering
  • Scattering and reaction cross-sections

• Potential Scattering
  • Coulomb scattering
  • Resonances
  • Optical potentials

• Compound Nucleus
  • Compound nucleus formation
  • Compound nucleus decay
  • Reciprocity theorem
  • The Hauser–Feshbach theory

• Heavy Ion Collisions

• Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Hydrostatic Support
  • Mass conservation
  • Dynamical timescales and non-spherical symmetry
  • Pressure, temperature and virial theorem
  • Energy generation in stars
  • Galaxy and star formation

• Equation of State
  • Classical gases with multiple particle species
  • Non-relativistic Fermi gas
  • Relativistic electron gas

• Polytropic Models

• Compact Stars
  • Energy production
  • Energy transport

• Radiative Transport
  • Solving the equations of stellar structure
  • Luminosity of white dwarfs

• Structure of Neutron Stars
  • Relativistic corrections for neutron stars
  • Neutron stars with nucleons and electrons

• Additional Stellar Properties
  • Seismology and pulsation

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Thermonuclear Cross-Sections
  • Nuclear abundances
  • Reaction rates in the laboratory
  • Reaction rates in stellar environments
  • Photons
  • Electrons
  • Other particles
  • Reaction networks

• Astrophysical S-Factor
  • Charged particles: Non-resonant reactions
  • Resonant reactions
  • Neutron-induced reactions

• Environment Electrons
  • Stellar electron screening
  • Laboratory atomic screening

• Reaction Models
  • Potential models
  • Microscopic models
  • R-matrix theory
  • Statistical models
  • Beta-decay, electron capture and neutrinos
  • Field theory models

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• The Sun
  • Deuterium formation
  • Deuterium burning
  • ³He burning
  • Reactions involving ⁷Be
  • The demise of the Sun

• Massive Stars
  • The CNO cycle
  • Hot CNO and rp-process
  • Triple-α capture
  • Red giants

• Advanced Burning Stages
  • Carbon burning
  • Neon burning
  • Oxygen burning
  • Silicon burning

• Synthesis of Heavy Elements
  • The s-process
  • The r-process
  • Pycnonuclear reactions

• Cataclysmic Events
  • Novae
  • X-ray bursts
  • Supernovae
  • Other cataclysmic events

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• In the Beginning
  • From elementary particles to nuclei
  • Space, particles, and their relation to time

• Big Bang Timeline
  • Time t = 0
  • Inflation
  • t ~ 0.01 s
  • t ~ 0.1 s
  • Decoupling
  • t ≳ 3 min
  • t ≳ years

• BBN Nucleosynthesis

• Cosmological Issues
  • Dark matter and dark energy
  • Inhomogeneous Big Bang
  • The horizon and the flatness problem
  • Matter–antimatter asymmetry in the universe
  • The demise of the universe

• Exercises

The following sections are included:

• Introduction

• Composition and Energy Distribution
  • Composition
  • Energy distribution
  • Propagation and origin
  • Scattering by cosmic background photons

• Neutrinos
  • Neutrinos from the sun
  • Neutrino oscillations
  • Atmospheric neutrinos
  • Supernova neutrinos

• Gamma Rays

• Exercises

• Appendix A Units
  • Microscopic Units
  • Constants and Conversion Factors
  • Astronomical Units

• Appendix B Space and Time
  • Introduction
  • Transformation between Moving Frames
  • Tensors
  • Lorentz Group
  • Four-Momentum

• Appendix C General Relativity
  • Christoffel Symbols
  • Metric Tensor
  • Riemann Curvature Tensor
  • The Energy–Momentum Tensor
  • Einstein Field Equations

• Appendix D Riemmann Geometry
  • Curved Spaces
  • The FRW Metric

• Appendix E References

The following sections are included:

• Index