Italian, English if necessary. Slides and books in English.
Course Content
Radiative processes: radiation from relativistic moving charges, high energy radiative processes (bremmstrahlung, synchrotron, inverse Compton scattering), examples of astrophysical sources. General Relativity: the equivalence principle, physics in a curved spacetime, Einstein equations, weak fields and gravitational waves, strong fields and compact objects (neutron stars and black holes).
G. Rybicki & A. Lightman – Radiative processes in Astrophysics (Wiley).
S. Weinberg - Gravitation and Cosmology (Wiley).
B. Shutz - A first course in General Relativity (Cambridge).
Learning Objectives
The course aims at providing the bases for the study of relativistic astrophysics, from high energy radiative processes to the physics of compact objects, with a wide introduction to general relativity.
Prerequisites
Fluid dynamics, electromagnetism, special relativity.
Teaching Methods
6 CFU, 48 hours.
Frontal lectures with the aid of electronic slides.
Further information
Pdf lectures provided to students.
Students are received on appointment.
Type of Assessment
Oral examination.
Course program
Radiative processes: radiation from moving charges, relativistic effects, high energy radiative processes (bremmstrahlung, synchrotron, inverse Compton). Application to the analysis of the spectra of astrophysical sources (supernova remnants and active galactic nuclei). General relativity: equivalence principle, metric and physics in a curved space, Riemann tensor and Einstein field equations, weak field limit. Relativistic Astrophysics: propagation and emission of gravitational waves, static and isotropic spacetime, relativistic hydrodynamics and structure of compact stars, gravitational collapse, black holes and orbits in Schwarzschild and Kerr and geometries, introduction to electrodynamics of compact objects.