AST 341 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Impact Parameter, Convolution, Bremsstrahlung
16 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
This is a topic of fundamental importance in astrophysics, since nearly all of our knowl- edge of the universe is carried to us by electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, we must rst understand the mechanisms that create photons before we can test models of the nature of the objects that emit them. Our understanding of light derives rst from classical electromagnetic theory as derived in the 18th century. In the early to mid 20th century this theory was integrated into quantum mechanics so that we now have a reliable understanding of the physics of photon emission. In the next few lectures we will discuss the most important mechanisms by which radia- tion is that of. We start from the simplest case, which is that of a single, accelerated charge. Classical electromagnetism tells us that the power radiated per steradian is given by dp d e2a2.
