Astrophysics and Cosmology

Module 1 – Introduction and Overview - A brief history of galaxy formation (MVW §1.4, CFN §1.1) - Diversity of the galaxy population (MVW §2.3, CFN Ch. 3–5) - Basic elements of galaxy evolution and characteristic timescales (MVW §1.2) - From first light to present-day galaxies (CFN §§1.4–1.6) Module 2 – Cosmology and the Expanding Universe - The expanding Universe (CFN §2.1, MVW §3.1) - Dynamics of the Universe (CFN §2.2, MVW §3.2) - The standard cosmological model (CFN §2.3, MVW §3.2) - Thermal history of the Universe (CFN §§2.4–2.6, MVW §§3.3–3.5) - Fluid equations in comoving coordinates (CFN §7.3.1; MVW §4.1) Module 3 – Growth of Structures - Linear growth of cosmological perturbations (CFN §7.3.1, MVW §4.1) - Power spectrum of linear density perturbations (CFN §§7.4.1–7.4.2, MVW §§4.3–4.5) - Non-linear growth and spherical collapse model (CFN §7.3.2, MVW §5.1) - Collapse and virialization; formation of dark matter halos - Abundance of dark matter halos: Press–Schechter formalism (CFN §7.4.3, MVW §7.2) - Extended Press–Schechter theory (CFN §7.4.4, MVW §7.3) - Halo merger trees and accretion histories (CFN §7.4.4, MVW §7.3) - Properties of Dark matter halos (CFN §§7.5.2–7.5.4, MVW §7.5) Module 4 – Gas Cooling and the Interstellar Medium - Gas accretion and cooling: Compton cooling (MVW §8.1 & App. B; CFN §8.1 & App. D) - Radiative processes in hot, collisionally ionised gas; the cooling function - Accretion shocks and radiative cooling of gaseous halos (MVW §§8.4.1–8.4.2) - Hot and cold accretion (Birnboim & Dekel 2003; CFN §8.2.4, MVW §8.4.4) - Conditions for first star formation (Tegmark et al. 1997) - Interstellar medium: thermal instability and composition - Slides and tables from Draine available Module 5 – Radiative Processes and the ISM - Radiative transfer equation (Draine §§7.2–7.4) - H II regions and Strömgren spheres (Draine §15.1, CFN §4.2.3) - Emission from photoionized gas: hydrogen recombination (Draine §§14.1–14.2, CFN §4.2.3) - Nebular diagnostics (Draine §§18.1–18.5, CFN §4.2.3) - Neutral atomic gas (Draine §§8.1–8.2, CFN §4.2.1) - Molecular gas and interstellar dust (CFN §4.2) - Interstellar dust (CFN §4.2; Draine review) - Giant Molecular Clouds (MVW §9.1; Krumholz, Star Formation Ch. 8) Module 6 – Star Formation and Stellar Populations - Stability and fragmentation of molecular clouds (Kippenhahn, Weigert & Weiss §§26.2–26.3) - From protostellar cores to pre-main sequence phase - Stellar initial mass function (MVW §9.6) - Star formation law on galactic scales (Krumholz §3.1, Ch. 9) - Stellar population synthesis (MVW §10.3) - Chemical evolution (MVW §10.4) - Feedback processes: Mechanical feedback (CFN §§8.7.2–8.7.4), Radiative feedback (Klessen & Glover 2023 §4.3.2), Photoionization and chemical feedback - Module 7 – Cosmic Reionization - Intergalactic medium and Lyman α forest (CFN §9.8.1), - Damped Lyman α and Lyman-limit systems (CFN §9.8.3) - Metals in the IGM (CFN §9.8.4) - Cosmological reionization (CFN §9.9) - Radiative transfer in an expanding Universe (Gnedin & Madau 2022 §§2.4–2.5; §3.1.1) Module 8 – Observing Galaxies - Galaxy emission at different redshifts, colours, K-corrections (Hogg et al. 2002) - SED fitting, photometric redshifts, and galaxy surveys - Lyman-break galaxies (CFN §11.2) - Statistical galaxy properties: Galaxy main sequence (CFN §4.4.4), Luminosity function (CFN §3.5.1), Malmquist and Eddington biases (CFN §11.2.2) - Evolution of cosmic star formation rate density (CFN §11.3.4) - Evolution of stellar mass density (CFN §11.3.9) - Galaxy morphologies (§3.1), mass distribution (§§4.3.1–4.3.3), scaling relations (§4.4.1) Module 9 – The First Galaxies and Black Holes - Star-forming galaxies in the early Universe - The first generation of galaxies and black holes - Black holes and AGNs in the early Universe

A fundamental pre-requisite is that students must have the knowledge requested by the first level University degree in Physics or in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Specific competences are requested in classical physics, quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular processes, nuclear physics. It is important that students have advanced knowledge (at the level of the master degree) of stellar astrophysics and radiative processes in astrophysics.

The main text books used during the lectures are: MVW: Mo, Van den Bosch and White, Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Cambridge University Press (2010) CFN: Cimatti, Fraternali, Nipoti, Introduction to Galaxy Formation and Evolution, Cambridge University Press (2020) SP: Stahler & Palla, The Formation of Stars, Wiley VCH (2004) Draine: Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic medium, Princeton University (2011) These will be complemented with key reference papers on specific topics.

Lecture attendance is not compulsory but strongly recommended,

The final grading will be based on an oral exam aimed at assessing the competences acquired by the student during the course. There will be the possibility to take a mid-term written test on the first part of the program.

The lecture format is through blackboard presentations.