Introduction to Astrophysical Fluids

Overview

The physics of astrofluids is the subject of active research during past seventy years.Starting from the solar wind and magnetospheric plasmas, the scope of astrophysical fluids expands upto large interstellar clouds. A thorough understanding of astrophysical fluid dydnamics is essential to understand fascinating phenomena like the formation of sunspots, solar flares, accretion disks, stellar winds, explosion of supernovae, the formation of stars etc. This course is structured to offer the students a systematic analytical approach towards various astrophysical concepts along with a research oriented outlook.
INTENDED AUDIENCE :Advanced UG and PG (Masters and PhD) students.PREREQUISITES : Basic knowledge of vector analysis (algebra and calculus), partial differentiation, fluid dynamics and electromagnetism are required. A notion of Hamiltonian mechanics is preferable.INDUSTRIES SUPPORT :None

Syllabus

COURSE LAYOUT

Week 1:General introduction, phase space, collisionless Boltzmann equationWeek 2:Collisional Boltzmann equation, derivation of moment equations, Oort limitWeek 3:Dynamics and properties of ideal fluids, streamlines and stream function
Week 4:Real fluids, accretion disks, stellar windWeek 5:Compressible flow, shock waves, Supernova explosionWeek 6:Convective instability, Rayleigh-Benard convectionWeek 7:Linear instabilities in two fluid interface, stellar oscillations, Jeans instabilityWeek 8:Effect of rotation in astrophysical objects
Week 9:Introduction to plasmas , Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)Week 10:Properties of MHD fluids and importance in astrophysicsWeek 11:Turbulence in astrophysical fluidsWeek 12:Dynamos in astrophysics