STELLAR STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION

Contents

Lecture 1 Introduction

1.1 Stellar timescales

1.2 The life of a star

1.3 The physics of stellar interiors  

Lecture 2 Basic observational data

2.1 Stellar positions and distances

2.2 Stellar brightness

2.3 Colour indices and surface temperature

2.4 Colour-magnitude diagrams

Lecture 3 Equation of state: the ideal gas

3.1 The ideal gas

3.2 Mean molecular weight

3.3 Specific heats and adiabatic change

Lecture 4 Hydrostatic equilibrium

4.1 Equation of hydrostatic support

4.2 Estimates of stellar internal pressure and temperature

4.3 Lower limit on the central pressure

4.4 The virial theorem

Lecture 5 Polytropic models

Lecture 6 Nuclear energy generation

6.1 Barrier penetration

6.2 Hydrogen burning

6.3 Later reactions

Lecture 7 Energy transport by radiation

7.1 Mean free path and opacity

7.2 The diffusion approximation

7.3 Equation of radiative transport

7.4 Opacity in stellar interiors

7.5 The main sequence

Lecture 8 Energy transport by convection

8.1 The instability condition

8.2 Where does convection occur?

8.3 Energy transport by convection

8.4 Numerical calculation of stellar structure

Lecture 9 Evolution after the main sequence

9.1 Relativistic and quantum effects in the equation of state

9.2 Red giants

9.3 White dwarfs

9.4 Supernova explosion

9.5 Neutron stars

9.6 Black holes