Course syllabus
Course-PM
RRY041 The interstellar medium and star formation lp4 VT20 (7.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Space, Earth and Environment
Contact details
Examiner & Teacher:
Prof. Jonathan C. Tan, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, jonathan.tan@chalmers.se, phone 073 342 9963
Course purpose
The course will give a broad introduction to the topics of Interstellar Medium and Star Formation, including an overview of physical processes involved and applications to latest research.
Schedule
Course literature
Book: “Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium” by Bruce Draine (Princeton University Press, 2011). Available through Cremona bookstore.
Additional material: “Star formation in Molecular Clouds" by Mark Krumholz (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1101.5172v1.pdf );
Protostars & Planets VI conference chapters (will be available on class web page).
Lecture notes from the course will be available as PDF files on the course web page.
Course design
Course credits: Credit total is 7.5, distributed: 6.0 at the exam and 1.5 for the mandatory homework & term paper. Note, credits will only be assigned when all course parts have been fulfilled.
Mandatory homework:
Homework assignments, five sets (available through the Canvas page together with the
deadlines).
Paper presentation: Students present a research topic. Research topics are elected from a list prepared by the lecturer. Papers presentations take place during the last week of lectures of the course.
Please note that points are obtained doing the mandatory homework and points earned through this will count towards the total number points at the exam.
Points will be kept for the exam and the two re-exams associated with the study period - points will not carry-over to future semesters.
Details are provided on the Canvas page.
All mandatory homework must be completed in order to get course credits!
The completion of all mandatory homework will be registered in Ladok (1.5 credits), so that this is known in case the exam is done within a reasonable time period in the future. Please note, that the 1.5 credits will only take effect when the exam has also been passed, and cannot be counted separately.
Learning objectives and syllabus
Learning objectives:
- Describe observations of the interstellar medium in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
- Explain how physical concepts are used to understand the various forms of interstellar matter
- Describe the current theory for the formation of stars and some of its observational tests
- List the ISM recycling, depletion and destruction time scales.
- Calculate the ionization structure of and emission from an HII region.
- Calculate the idealized interaction between SN and ISM.
- Determine the average electron density and magnetic field in the Galaxy from pulsar observations.
- Describe the role of dust in the interstellar medium and calculate its effect on observations.
- Discuss the most important heating and cooling mechanisms of the different ISM phases.
- Use the virial theorem
- Discuss the effect of radiation pressure during star formation
Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.
Examination form
Written, date: Wednesday, 3rd June 2020, time: 14.00.
Time and place for the written exam: please see studieportalen
Permitted material during the exam: The course book (“Physics of the interstellar and intergalactic medium” by Bruce Draine), and the normal material for Chalmers (i.e. ‘Physics handbook’ and ‘Mathematics handbook’) as well as a Chalmers approved calculator).
Graded according to the normal grading scheme (5, 4, 3, not passed)
Homework is compulsory, must be done during the course.
Credits: 7.5 (6.0 + 1.5).
Course summary:
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