AST564/PHY564 -- High Energy Astrophysics

Spring 2026

Class Hours: 14:00 - 15:15 B&L 203H

Prof:     Eric Blackman, Bausch &Lomb 417,   blackman@pas.rochester.edu

Course Material and Texts:

This course is meant to sample the subject of High Energy Astrophysics.

Typically "High Energy Astrophysics" refers to processes or systems which involve one or more of the following: relativistic phenomena, X-ray emission, Gamma-Ray emission, jet flows, non-thermal particle acceleration, strong magnetic fields, ionized plasmas, compact objects, accretion flows, cosmology of the early universe.

ROUGH OUTLINE OF THE COURSE (subject to adjusment!):

1. Introduction to High Energy Astrophysics (X-ray, Gamma-Ray, and radio source detection)

2. Aspects of Stellar Evolution Relating to Compact Objects

3. Supernovae

4. Compact Objects (Black Holes, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars)

5. Galactic Center

6. Accretion/ Accretion Disks

7. Accretion in Binary Systems

8. Shocks

9. Cosmic Rays

10. Gamma-Ray Bursts

11. Solar Corona

12. Active Galactic Nuclei and Galaxy Clusters

This list means both the sources, their physics, and in some cases their influence on their enviroments, e.g. generating turbulence, magnetic fields, their role in cosmology, star formation etc. -->

The textbook that offers good topical coverage that balances physics with the astrophysics in a way that I like overall is High Energy Astrophysics by Malcolm Longair listed below along with other sources.

MAIN TEXTBOOK:

High Energy Astrophysics (3rd Edition) by Malcolm S. Longair; (strong on theoretical explanation of physical principles and broad topical coverage)

OTHER USEFUL BOOKS:

Exploring the X-ray Universe (second edition) by Frederick D. Seward and Phillip A. Charles; (strong on high energy astrophysical phenomenology and observational interpretation)

Radiative Processes (Rybicki and Lightman) (basic widely used text on radiative processes)

Modern Astrophysics (Carroll and Ostlie) (very good comprehensive survey of astrophysics intended for undergradates but useful at any level)

Accretion Power in Astrophysics (J. Frank, A. King, D. Raine) good book on theory of accretion disks)

Black Holes, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars (S. Shapiro and S. Teukolsky) (a theoretically oriented book on some of the more high energy physics aspects of compact objects)

Frontiers of High Energy Astrophysics (A. Fabian, K. Pounds, Blandford) (A good broad overview, collection of essays/articles of the sub fields of x-ray astronomy and high energy astrophysics from experts)

Theoretical Astrophysics (Padmanabhan) (3 volumes) (comprehensive theoretical treatment of many topics)

Coursework: This will be an informal and interactive course. It is best to follow and study the lecture notes to facilitate your immersion in the material and in class discussions. Recommended work includes asking questions, suggested problems, and a term project/paper in which you are to give both a midterm 1/2 hour presentations and an final 1/2 hour presentation before turning in your paper. Best to converge on a topic early in the course. I will help you choose topics.

The course is graded pass-fail.