AN INVITATION TO ASTROPHYSICS
by Thanu Padmanabhan (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, India)
This unique book provides a clear and lucid description of several aspects of astrophysics and cosmology in a language understandable to a physicist or beginner in astrophysics. It presents the key topics in all branches of astrophysics and cosmology in a simple and concise language. The emphasis is on currently active research areas and exciting new frontiers rather than on more pedantic topics. Many complicated results are introduced with simple, novel derivations which strengthen the conceptual understanding of the subject. The book also contains over one hundred exercises which will help students in their self study.
Undergraduate and graduate students in physics and astrophysics as well as all physicists who are interested in obtaining a quick grasp of astrophysical concepts will find this book useful.
Contents:
- Gravitation
- Radiative Processes
- Matter
- Stars and Stellar Evolution
- Relics of Stars
- Cosmology and the Early Universe
- Universe at z < 20
- Normal Galaxies
- Active Galaxies
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Readership: Physicists, astronomers, undergraduate and graduate students in physics and astrophysics.
"I would warmly recommend the book to a good graduate student of astronomy who is preparing for general exams, or to a graduate student working in particle physics who is shifting to the astroparticle side. The text could also serve as a focus for an inspirational graduate seminar that would broaden and deepen students' understanding of physics and the way it enables us to understand environments wildly unlike our own ... It is an unconventional but very worthwhile book."
"This book is a nice introduction to several fields of astrophysics. It is useful for students interested in this special field, but also for researchers of several other fields, as it concentrates on the fundamental questions instead of going into too much details."
