Estudia
- Artes y humanidades
-
Ciencias
- Máster Erasmus Mundus en Recursos Biológicos Marinos
- Máster Universitario en Análisis de Datos para la Inteligencia de Negocios
- Máster Universitario en Biotecnología Alimentaria
- Máster Universitario en Biotecnología Aplicada a la Conservación y Gestión Sostenible de Recursos Vegetales
- Máster Universitario en Biotecnología del Medio Ambiente y la Salud
- Máster Universitario en Ciencias Analíticas y Bioanalíticas
- Máster Universitario en Conservación Marina
- Máster Universitario en Física Avanzada: Partículas, Astrofísica, Nanofísica y Materiales Cuánticos
- Máster Universitario en Modelización e Investigación Matemática, Estadística y Computación*
- Máster Universitario en Química Teórica y Modelización Computacional
- Máster Universitario en Química y Desarrollo Sostenible
- Máster Universitario en Recursos Geológicos e Ingeniería Geológica
- Ciencias de la salud
- Ciencias sociales y jurídicas
- Ingeniería y arquitectura
- Información, acceso y becas
Astrofísica de Altas Energías
- Especialidad de Física de Partículas y Astrofísica
- Tutorías Grupales (3 Hours)
- Clases Expositivas (34 Hours)
- Prácticas de Aula/Semina (8 Hours)
This subject matter belongs to the “Particle Physics and Astrophysics” specialization and will be presented in a mostly theoretical approach.
High Energy Astrophysics is one of the most active areas in astrophysics. It encompasses gamma-rays and high energy cosmic rays observations, but can be defined more precisely as the study of emissions by matter far from equilibrium when subjected to extreme conditions such as are found in compact binary systems or active galactic nuclei.
Since these phenomena are predominantly powered by gravitation, black holes play a prominent role in their description, but magnetic fields also provide further mechanisms of acceleration. As new observation windows become available, such as TeV astronomy, TeV neutrinos and recently gravitational waves, our vision of the universe becomes richer and the validity of existing theories can be probed in conditions which cannot be reached in terrestrial experiments.
Link with other subjects:
The student is supposed to be familiar with the contents of the "Astrophysics and Cosmology" course (such as taught eg in the 4th year at Oviedo University, or equivalent at other Universities)
It can be beneficial moreover to have completed a course in General Relativity and one in Fluids and Plasmas (4th year optionals at Oviedo University or equivalents at other Universities)
During the course we will encounter themes which are developed in more detail in the following subject matters, all belonging to the "Particle Physics and Astrophysics" specialization of this Master:
- Standard Model Phenomenology and its Extensions [compulsory]
(for a better understanding of high energy emissions)
- Advanced General Relativity [optional]
(for a better understanding of black hole physics)
and if you are interested in possibilities of testing the validity of theories (last chapter of the syllabus)
- Modern Topics in Particle Physics [optional]
(for a discussion of possible alternatives to the Standard Model)
- Modern Cosmology [optational]
(to place active galactic nuclei in a global perspective of the evolution of the universe)
Even though the presentation endeavours to be self-contained, it could be helpful to simultaneously study Advanced General Relativity [optional, first semester]
The students will acquire the following skills:
- General competencies: CG1, CG2, CG3, CG4, CG5, CG6, CG7
- Basic competencies: CB6, CB7, CB8, CB9, CB10
- Specific competencies: CE1, CE2, CE3, CE4, CE11, CE12
as defined in the Master's general information booklet.
These competencies correspond to the following learning outcomes:
-RA1- Understand the complementary role of the observation of various kinds of emissions, not only photons in all the spectral range but also cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational waves
-RA2- Obtain a dynamical vision of astrophysics from the study of the most energetic processes in the universe in situations far from equilibrium
-RA3- Apply concepts of plasma physics, special and general relativity and particle physics to the description of compact objects
-RA4- Understand the mechanisms which give rise to the accretion disk - jet configuration in astrophysical systems.
-RA5- Understand the various mechanisms which can convert potential gravitational energy to radiated energy
-RA6- Understand the evolutionary mechanisms that lead to the formation of compact objects on both stellar and galactic scales, and their interrelation
-RA7- Integrate observational and theoretical aspects into a unified model
-RA8- Understand the similarities and differences in mechanisms and configurations on space-time scales differing by many orders of magnitude
-RA9- Assess in which measure the available data can be used to test the validity of existing theories in strong regimes that are not within the reach of terrestrial experiments.
Introduction: The high-energy sky
High-energy and transient phenomena. Panchromatic view of the sky. Multi-messenger astronomy. Detection issues
Part I: Emission mechanisms
- The accretion disk + relativistic jet configuration.
Basic concepts of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
- Role of a central black hole
- Emission y absorption of photons. X-ray and gamma-ray spectra, TeV photons.
- Production, acceleration y propagation of cosmic rays and high-energy neutrinos
- Production and detection of gravitational waves.
Part II: Emission sites
- Stellar compact objects, supernovas and hypernovas, compact binaries and their coalescence, gamma-ray bursts
- Active Galactic Nuclei: unified model, high-redshift objects, primordial galaxies
- "Exotic" emission sources
Part III: Tests of standard models and new paradigms
- Tests of general relativity general and more general theories of gravitation
- High energy astrophysics as a tool to observe the early universe
The syllabus of all modules will be presented during the main Lectures with projected slides to expose the main ideas, and the blackboard will be used for developing some intermediate steps of the calculations. The slides are available on the Virtual Campus website for further reference.
The Classroom Practices will be dedicated to the presentation by the students of selected specialization topics proposed by the lecturers, and to seminars on topics of current interest.
The student, guided by the lecturers, will realize a small project (which can be the analysis of a research paper, a theoretical calculation or the explotation of observational data). He/she will perform his/her own bibliographical research, summarize his/her results on one A4 page and expose them orally. She/he will answer impromptu questions asked by other students as well as by the lecturers at the end of the exposition. She/he will also deepen one issue selected among those formulated by her/his classmate and posted in advance on the Virtual Campus.
The knowledge acquired during the lectures will be assessed in micro-tests (~15 min each) at the beginning of each Group Tutorial. The rest of the Tutorial sessions will be devoted to discuss one of the topics exposed during the lectures. Suggested topics for the debates will be posted in advance on the Virtual Campus.
Active participation is specially encouraged for all types of activities.
Language
The class will be bilingual according to following criteria:
- If all participants understand spanish, oral explanations in class will be given in spanish in order to facilitate comprehension.
- To develop the acquisition of the necessary technical vocabulary, the teaching material (lecture notes and bibliographical supplements available on the virtual campus) will be in English.
- If non spanish speaking students participate, the class will be taught in english.
- The student may choose freely between spanish and english to submit the proposed tasks and for the exposition of the mini-project
Chronogram
The time dedicated to each kind of activity will be distributed according to the following chronogram
PRESENTIAL | NON PRESENTIAL | ||||||||
Topics | Total of hours | Lectures | Class practices / Seminars | Group Tutorials | Evaluation Sessions | Total | Group work | Autonomous work | Total |
Introduction | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Part I: Emission mechanisms | 50 | 11 | 3 | 1 | - | 15 | 10 | 25 | 35 |
Part II-a: Emission sites - compact stellar objects | 39 | 8 | 2 | 1 | - | 11 | 8 | 20 | 28 |
Parte II-b: Emission sites -active galactic nuclei | 39 | 8 | 2 | 1 | - | 11 | 8 | 20 | 28 |
Parte III: Tests of theories and new paradigms | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
Evaluation activities | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | 2 | - | - | - |
Total | 150 | 32 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 45 | 30 | 75 | 105 |
Type of activity | Hours | % | Total | |
Presential | Lectures | 32 | 21.4 | 30% |
Classroom practices / Seminars | 8 | 5.3 | ||
Group Tutorials | 3 | 2.0 | ||
Evaluation sessions | 2 | 1.3 | ||
Non presential | Group work | 30 | 20 | 70% |
Individual work | 75 | 50 | ||
Total | 150 |
Ordinary evaluation sessions:
The evaluation will be based on the results obtained in short tests test during the course and a final project as follows:
• Short answer tests + discussion (35%):
Performed at the beginning of each Group Tutorial session, they are microtests of a duration ~15 min aimed at assessing whether the basics concepts exposed in the lectures have been acquired. (25% of total mark). The rest of the sessions will be devoted to the debate and deepening of one of the topics covered in class, according to suggestions of both students and lecturers. 10% of the total mark is reserved to evaluate the relevance of the questions and arguments brought to the discussion.
• Realization of a small project, exposition y discussion (65%)
In order to complete their projects, the students will
- perform their own bibliographic research
(7% of total mark).
- submit a written summary of their conclusions in ~ 1 page
(10% of total mark).
- expose these results during the Class Practice hours
(30% of total mark)
- answer to questions formulated by the other students and by the lecturers
(10% of total mark).
The formulation of questions by the students corresponds to 8% of the total mark.
Extraordinary sessions or non-presential students
The students who participate to extraordinary evaluation sessions or those who are granted non-presencial regime (according to conditions specified in BOPA nº 125 de 1-VI-2010)
- will perform a two-hours written test on theoretical topics covered in the lectures
(50% of total mark)
- will realize a small project and write a 15 pages memo on one of the extension topics suggested by the lecturers
(50% of total mark)
Exceptionally, if the health situation requires it, some of the scheduled activities may be carried out remotely. In this case the students will be informed of the modifications.
Virtual Campus:
The slides of the lectures will be made available to the students on the Virtual Campus.
Additional material such as review articles and links to interesting websites will also be provided.
Additional Bibliography:
• T.J.L. Courvoisier, “High-Energy Astrophysics - An Introduction”, Springer, 2013
• M. Longair, “High Energy Astrophysics”, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011
• M.H.P.M. Van Putten, A. Levinson, “Relativistic Astrophysics of the Transient
Universe”, Cambridge University Press, 2013
• D.L. Meier, “Black Hole Astrophysics”, Springer Praxis, 2012
• M. Camenzind, “Compact Objects in Astrophysics”, Springer, 2005
• V. Beckmann, C. Shrader, “Active Galactic Nuclei”, Wiley, 2012