Spring 2012: ASTR 5720 (Galaxies)
Instructor: Professor Michael Shull
Class Meeting Times:
MWF (9:00 - 9:50 am)
Duane E126 (Classroom next to TA Office)
Final Exam: Saturday May 5 (4:30 - 7:00 pm)
Instructor Contact Information
ASTR 5720 is a graduate astrophysics-disciplinary course, covering the
structure, dynamics, formation, and evolution of galaxies.
Designed for APS and Physics graduate students, this class requires
a solid undergraduate background in physics and mathematics.
We will begin by reviewing the morphologies, motions, masses,
and dynamics of stellar and galactic systems. We will cover
gravitational potential theory and stellar dynamics, applied to
the structure, mass, and shape of galaxies.
We will review the standard (Lambda-CDM) cosmological theory
including dark matter, baryonic matter, and dark energy, as a
theoretical background for galaxy formation.
The latter part of the course will be devoted to current topics
in galaxy formation, N-body dynamics, clusters of galaxies,
intergalactic matter, and large-scale structure.