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| SPAT0009-1 | High-energy astrophysics
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| Duration : | 25h Th, 5h Pr |
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| Credits/ECTS : |
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| Holder(s) : | Grégor Rauw |
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| Language : | French language |
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| Course contents : | Thanks to spaceborne observatories, new
spectral windows have become available to the astrophysicists. This course deals with high-energy astrophysics in the X-ray and gamma-ray domains.
We start by an introduction to the microscopic processes that generate X-ray or gamma-ray radiation in the Universe: bremsstrahlung, (inverse) Compton scattering, black body emission, photoelectric absorption, Auger effect, radioactive decays,... Then, we discuss various models that are used to fit the observed high-energy spectra. The properties of many different X-ray or gamma-ray sources are described: coronal sources (our Sun, cool stars), supernova remnants, X-ray pulsars, X-ray binaries, hot stars, clusters of galaxies, quasars, active nuclei of galaxies, gamma-ray bursts... We also describe the instrumentations (telescopes and detectors) used in high-energy astrophysics and provide an overview of the most recent missions (ROSAT, ASCA, Chandra, XMM-Newton,...). The particular aspects of data reduction in these energy domains are introduced and during a hands-on session, the students can manipulate X-ray spectra themselves. |
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| Course objective : | The aim of this course is to familiarize students with the specific context and techniques of high-energy astrophysics. By the end of this course, the students will be able to read and understand scientific publications on this topic and to do their own analysis of X-ray observations of the sky. |
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| Prerequisites : | Good knowledge of mathematics, physics, classical mechanics and some knowledge of special relativity. |
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| Workshops : | A hands-on session (3 - 4 hrs) is organized where students reduce X-ray spectra themselves. Attendance
of this session is mandatory. |
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| Organization : | The lectures are usually scheduled as 2.5h/week over 10 weeks during the first semester. The hands-on session is organised after the end of the lectures. |
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| Written notes : | The lecture notes are provided in English. A hardcopy is available for 6 euro whilst the pdf file is available for free. |
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| Assessment : | Oral examination: the students can choose between a "classical" examination or the presentation of a personal research work consisting of the analysis of a scientific publication dealing with observations in the high-energy astrophysics domain. |
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| Contacts : | Gregor Rauw
Chargé de Cours
Institut d'Astrophysique et Géophysique, Bât. B5c,
Allée du 6 Août, 17
4000 Liège
Tel. +32-(0)4 366 9740
e-mail: rauw@astro.ulg.ac.be |
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| Remarks : | N/A |
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