SPACE PHYSICS
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2015/2016
- Teacher
- NAZZARENO MANDOLESI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- FIS/01
Training objectives
- TThe learning objectives of the Space Physics series of lectures is three-fold:
1 - provide a wide overview of modern aerospace engineering technologies and training physics students in operating as system engineers of large space projects.
2 - provide an overview of the technology used and major scientific achievements in space astrophysics: the Sun, the planets, astrophysics and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) cosmology
3 - provide an overview of the CMB theories and experimental results, inparticular the latest results of the ESA Planck mission.
At the end of the course the students well trained as experts can be employed in advanced public and private research and development centers in aerospace engineering. Prerequisites
- There are no particular requirements. Basic knowledge of Astrophysics, Cosmology and Relativity can help.
Course programme
- - Space systems (4 hours): History of Space exploration, Path to space, Space systems challenges, working principles of launchers and satellites, Inertial navigation, Spacecrafts in orbit, Mathematics of satellite motion
- Interference & Interferometers (optical, radio) (6 hours): Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) principles, space SAR, Antennas and arrays, Phased arrays,SAR coherence & correlation, Polarimetry, Applications
- Solar Physics (8 hours): Basic facts, Solar interiors, Sources of energy (nuclear, fusion, gravitational, Thermal, chemical, fission reactions), Kelvin-Helmotz time scale, Hydrostatic equilibrium, Internal pressure, Molecular weight, Energy transport, Photon transport, absorption processes, Radiative and convective temperatures, Solar phenomenology, Chemical abundances
- Stars and Planets formation (4 hours): Large Scale Structure in the Universe, Cosmic expansion, Planets, Kepler laws, formation of solar system
- Instrumentation (2 hours): Telescopes (optical, IR, UV, Radio)
- Introduction to CMB Cosmology (24): Friedman equation, Fluid and accelerated equations, Eq. of state, single component universe, Evolution of energy density, Olbers paradox, CMB (temperature, energy, density, mean photon energy), CMB results from measurements, Equivlence principle, Robertson-Walker metric, recombination and decoupling, CMB temperature fluctuations, lambda CDM model, Planck satellite, latest results from CMB and future. Didactic methods
- Class lectures with examples and close interactions with students (very important to optimize the results).
The lectures are in ppt or pdf and given to the students during and at the ned of the course. Learning assessment procedures
- The examination is based on questions and answers with interactive discussion. One argument can be chosen by the student. Normally the exam lasts about half an hour.
Reference texts
- Given the large number of topics the students are addressed to a few text book in agreement with their sigle interest.
But since the lectures are exposed as presentation i ppt or pdf all the lectures are given to the students during and at the end of the course.
