Radiative Astrophysics

3 Credits.

A one-term survey of the processes that generate radiation of astrophysical importance. Topics include radiative transfer, the theory of radiation fields, polarization and Stokes parameters, radiation from accelerating charges, bremsstrahlung, synchrotron radiation, thermal dust emission, Compton scattering, properties of plasmas, atomic and molecular quantum transitions, and applications to astrophysical observations.