Astrophysics

This book aims at providing an accessible, and yet comprehensive and self-contained discussion of compact stars. After a pedagogical introduction to the physics of white dwarfs, the bulk of the book is devoted to the analysis of the structure and dynamics of neutron stars. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the dynamical models underlying the description of neutron star matter at microscopic level. The analysis of these models is inherently cross-disciplinary - from nuclear and particle physics to astrophysics and condensed matter physics - and the relevant concepts are introduced following a didactic approach, drawing largely on the historical development of the field. The impact of the latest experimental data, such as gravitational waves emissions, and the potential of future observational developments in the new era of multimessenger astronomy are extensively discussed. This volume is intended to provide PhD students in physics and astrophysics with solid foundations for their future research career. It is also a useful tool for the broader audience of more advanced readers, working in the fields of nuclear and particle physics as well as gravitational physics.

From the bestselling author of The Theoretical Minimum, an accessible introduction to the math and science of quantum mechanics <BR>  <BR> “If you want to know how physicists really think about the world, this book is the place to start.”―Sean Carroll, author of The Particle at the End of the Universe <BR><BR> First he taught you classical mechanics. Now, physicist Leonard Susskind teams up with data engineer Art Friedman to present the theory and associated mathematics of the strange world of quantum mechanics. <BR>  <BR> In this follow-up to the New York Times best-selling The Theoretical Minimum, Susskind and Friedman provide a lively introduction to this famously difficult topic by illustrating the behavior of sub-atomic objects through mathematical abstractions. Unlike other popularizations that shy away from quantum mechanics' weirdness, Quantum Mechanics embraces it. The authors offer crystal-clear explanations of the principles of quantum states, uncertainty and time dependence, entanglement, and particle and wave states, among other topics, and each chapter includes exercises to ensure mastery of each area.  <BR>  <BR> Approachable yet rigorous, Quantum Mechanics provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace. 

Introduction.- Stellar Structure.- Stellar Evolution.- Radio and X-ray Astronomy.- Extrasolar Planets.- Black Holes.- Gravitational Waves.- Cosmology.

This book presents experimental work conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) in order to characterize metals and alloys in the liquid state. The internationally recognized authors present and discuss experiments performed in microgravity that enabled the study of the relevant volume and surface related properties free of the restrictions of a gravity-based environment. The collection serves also as a handbook of space experiments using electromagnetic levitation techniques. A summary of recent results provides an overview of the wealth of space experiment data, which will ignite further research activities and inspire academics and industrial research departments for their continuous development.

The book presents a broad and in-depth overview of recent achievements and the current state of research in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillatory and wave phenomena in the coronae of the Sun and stars. Major progress in coronal wave studies has been achieved thanks to the combination of high-precision multi-wavelength observations with spaceborne and ground-based facilities, elaborated theory of the interaction of MHD waves with plasma non-uniformities, state-of-the-art numerical simulations, and novel data analysis techniques. It has allowed the research community to reach a new look at the role played by MHD wave processes in the enigmatic phenomena of coronal plasma heating and wind acceleration as well as powerful energy releases such as flares and coronal mass ejections. In addition, the waves are intensively used as natural probes in the remote diagnostics of the coronal plasma parameters and physical processes operating in solar and stellar coronae via the method of MHD seismology. Individual chapters cover recent cutting-edge results obtained on the analysis and theoretical modelling of several most intensively studied coronal MHD wave phenomena, namely, kink and sausage oscillations of coronal loops and other field-aligned plasma structures, plus running and standing slow magnetoacoustic waves. A dedicated chapter assesses the reliability of proposed theoretical mechanisms for heating of the coronal plasma by MHD waves. Another chapter summarizes the current state of our understanding of the physical mechanisms and observational properties of quasi-periodic pulsations in solar flares, considers their analogy with similar processes detected in stellar flares, and thus establishes solid ground for the further exploitation of the solar-stellar analogy. An important discussion of novel data analysis techniques designed recently for MHD seismology applications is presented in a devoted chapter. The direction of future advances in the designated research areas are discussed.The book is a spin-off from the Topical Collection "Oscillatory Processes in Solar and Stellar Coronae" of the journal Space Science Reviews.

This book highlights fundamentals and advances in the theories and observations of solar magnetic fields. Solar magnetism is an important part of solar physics and space weather research. It covers the formation, development, and relaxation of the magnetic fields in the solar eruptive process. The book discusses topics ranging from measurement facilities for solar observations to the evolution of solar magnetic fields, the storage of magnetic energy, and the magnetic helicity in the solar atmosphere and its relation with solar cycles. The book also presents recent advances in measurements and observations of solar magnetic shear, currents, magnetic helicity, and solar cycles. The book intends for astronomy-majored students and researchers interested in solar magnetism and its role in astrophysics.

This book presents the result of an innovative challenge, to create a systematic literature overview driven by machine-generated content. Questions and related keywords were prepared for the machine to query, discover, collate and structure by Artificial Intelligence (AI) clustering. The AI-based approach seemed especially suitable to provide an innovative perspective as the topics are indeed both complex, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, for example, climate, planetary and evolution sciences. Springer Nature has published much on these topics in its journals over the years, so the challenge was for the machine to identify the most relevant content and present it in a structured way that the reader would find useful. The automatically generated literature summaries in this book are intended as a springboard to further discoverability. They are particularly useful to readers with limited time, looking to learn more about the subject quickly and especially if they are new to the topics. Springer Nature seeks to support anyone who needs a fast and effective start in their content discovery journey, from the undergraduate student exploring interdisciplinary content, to Master- or PhD-thesis developing research questions, to the practitioner seeking support materials, this book can serve as an inspiration, to name a few examples. It is important to us as a publisher to make the advances in technology easily accessible to our authors and find new ways of AI-based author services that allow human-machine interaction to generate readable, usable, collated, research content.

HC runder Rücken kaschiert

Die Autoren Claus Grupen und Marcus Niechciol geben in diesem essential einen Ausblick auf die Chancen, der durch Überbevölkerung und Klimaveränderung belasteten Erde zu entkommen. Der Mars als nächstliegender Planet ist ein natürlicher Kandidat für eine Besiedelung durch den Menschen. Aber der Mars ist öd und leer, ohne rechte Luft zum Atmen. Dazu kommt eine ungemütlich hohe Strahlenbelastung. All das führt zu großen Herausforderungen für zukünftige Marsbewohner. Oder ist der Mars doch kein so gutes Ziel?

This thesis addresses the feasibility of the production of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in starburst galaxies and active galactic nuclei. These astrophysical objects were theoretically proposed as candidate sources a long time ago. Nevertheless, the interest in them has been recently renewed due to the observational data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. In this work, a comprehensive review of the current status of the research on cosmic rays accelerators is provided, along with a summary of the principal concepts needed to connect these relativistic particles with electromagnetic and neutrino observations in the multi-messenger era. On one hand, the hypothesis of accelerating particles with energies above 10¹¿ eV in starburst superwinds is carefully revisited, taking into account the constraints imposed by the most recent electromagnetic observations. On the other hand, an alternative new model for the gamma emission of the nearby active galaxy NGC 1068 is presented. The implications of the results of these studies are discussed in terms of the contemporary observatories and prospects for future experiments are offered.

The volume of data being collected in solar astronomy has exponentially increased over the past decade and we will be entering the age of petabyte solar data. Deep learning has been an invaluable tool exploited to efficiently extract key information from the massive solar observation data, to solve the tasks of data archiving/classification, object detection and recognition.Astronomical study starts with imaging from recorded raw data, followed by image processing, such as image reconstruction, inpainting and generation, to enhance imaging quality. We study deep learning for solar image processing. First, image deconvolution is investigated for synthesis aperture imaging. Second, image inpainting is explored to repair over-saturated solar image due to light intensity beyond threshold of optical lens. Third, image translation among UV/EUV observation of the chromosphere/corona, Ha observation of the chromosphere and magnetogram of the photosphere is realized by using GAN, exhibiting powerful image domain transfer ability among multiple wavebands and different observation devices. It can compensate the lack of observation time or waveband. In addition, time series model, e.g., LSTM, is exploited to forecast solar burst and solar activity indices.This book presents a comprehensive overview of the deep learning applications in solar astronomy. It is suitable for the students and young researchers who are major in astronomy and computer science, especially interdisciplinary research of them.

This book systematically presents the concept, history, implementation, theory system and basic methods of pulsar and space flight, illustrating the characteristics of pulsars. It also describes the classification of spacecraft navigation systems and the autonomous navigation technologies, as well as X-ray pulsar-based navigation systems (XPNAV) and discusses future navigation satellite systems in detail.

This book collates papers presented at two international conferences (held at the Australian National University in 2018 and Birkbeck College London in 2019) exploring the relationships between big history and astrobiology and their wider implications for society. These two relatively new academic disciplines aim to integrate human history with the wider history of the universe and the search for life elsewhere. The book will show that, despite differences in emphasis, big history and astrobiology share much in common, especially their interdisciplinary approaches and the cosmic and evolutionary perspectives that they both engender.Specifically, the book addresses the unified, all-embracing, nature of knowledge, the impact of big history on humanity and the world at large, the possible impact of SETI on astrobiology and big history, the cultural signature of Earth's inhabitants beyond our own planet, and the political implications of a planetary worldview. The principal readership is envisaged to comprise scholars working in the fields of astrobiology, big history and space exploration interested in forging interdisciplinary links between these diverse topics, together with educators, and a wider public, interested in the societal implications of the cosmic and evolutionary perspectives engendered by research in these fields.

... De tels triomphes sont utiles et presque nécessaires pour entretenir la juste considération que l'on doit aux sciences. Nous sommes très-disposés, sans doute, à confesser l'importance des recherches scientifiques, mais il n'est pas hors de propos que, par intervalles, quelques faits éclatants viennent justifier cette confiance en quelque sorte instinctive, et nous fournir un témoignage visible de l'utilité de certains travaux dont les applications sont difficiles à saisir au premier aperçu. Rien n'a mieux servi à ce titre les intérêts et l'honneur des sciences que la découverte de la planète Neptune. L'histoire conserve avec orgueil les noms de quelques astronomes heureux qui reconnurent dans le ciel l'existence de planètes jusqu'alors ignorées ; mais ces découvertes n'avaient en elles-mêmes rien d'inusité ni d'insolite, elles ne sortaient pas du cadre de nos moyens habituels d'exploration ; le perfectionnement des instruments d'optique y joua le premier et quelquefois l'unique rôle. Les planètes Uranus, Cérès, Pallas, Vesta, Junon, Astrée, ont été reconnues en étudiant avec le télescope les diverses plages célestes...

This book discusses key theoretical aspects concerning the formation of the solar wind: the most essential building block in the heliosphere, in which planets orbit. To understand the influence of solar activity on planetary magnetospheres and atmospheres, we need to first understand the origin of the solar wind, which is still under debate. This book presents the outcomes of state-of-the-art numerical simulations of solar wind acceleration, including the first three-dimensional simulation of the turbulence-driven solar wind model. One of the book's goals is to include compressional effects in the dynamics of solar wind turbulence; accordingly, it discusses parametric decay instability in detail. Several key aspects that are relevant to the Parker Solar Probe observations are also discussed. Given its scope, the book plays a key role in bridging the gap between the theory of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence and current/future in-situ observations of the solar wind. This book is based on the Ph.D. thesis by the author, which won the 2019 International Astronomical Union Division E Ph.D. prize.