Syllabus
* Historical Introduction:
Aristoteles, G.Galilei, T. Wright, I. Kant, J.H. Lambert, W. a J. Herschel, Ch. Messier, O. Struve, shape of the Milky Way, E. Halley, solar motion, random stellar motions, Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution, Schwarzschild ellipsoidal distribution, theory of two stellar streams, Kapteyn Universe.
* The Nature of Spiral Nebulae:
Great debate H. Curtis (dark lanes in nebulae) versus H. Shapley (distribution of globular clusters in space), A. Van Maanen (rotation of nebulae), E. P. Hubble, distance of M31, classification of galaxies, red shift of galaxies, island Universe, R. J. Trumpler, interstellar absorption, structure of the Milky Way, disk, halo, bulge, nucleus, stellar populations.
* Lindblad-Oort model:
Rotation around a distant centre, rotation curve, differential rotation, radial velocities and proper motions as functions of galactic longitude and distance, Oort constants, shape of the rotation curve in the solar vicinity.
* Stellar motions near the Sun:
Circular orbit and its stability, motion near the circular orbit, epicycle, epicyclic frequency, velocity ellipsoid and its orientation in space, vertex deviation of spectral type A stars, asymmetrical drift, motion perpendicular the Galaxy symmetry plane, mass density near the Sun, integrals of motion, ergodic behavior of stellar orbits, third integral, distribution function, Boltzmann equation, Oort analysis, density gradients, Jeans theorem, separability of the galactic gravitational potential near the Sun.
* Interstellar Matter:
HI radiation, kinematical distances, rotation curve, AR_0, galactic halo, total mass of the Galaxy, Rayleigh-Jeans law, brightness temperature, equation of radiative transfer, HI column density, H2, CO and other molecules, giant molecular clouds, distribution of HI and H2 in galaxies, star formation.
* Relaxation Time:
Cumulative effect of distant encounters, crossing time, relaxation time of stellar systems, open star clusters, globular clusters, clusters of galaxies, relaxation effects, energy redistribution, evaporation, non-ellastic collisions, formation of binaries, dynamical friction.
* Stars as the Fluid:
Divergence theorem, continuity equation, Lagrange and Euler derivative, Euler's equations of motion, single-particle distribution function in the phase space, collisionless Boltzmann equation, Jeans equations, tensor virial theorem.
* Potential Theory:
Poisson and Laplace's equations, Gauss's theorem, potential energy, first and second Newton's theorem, potential-density pairs, point mass, homogeneous sphere, Plummer's sphere, Kuzmin's potential, Miamoto-Nagai potential, ellipsoidal systems, oblate spheroidal coordinates, homeoid theorem, Newton's third theorem.
* Extermal Galaxies:
Hubble cassification, M31, NGC 1365, M87, local group of galaxies, Virgo cluster, dark matter in clusters of galaxies, Tully-Fisher relation, Faber-Jackson law, extragalactic distance scale, redshift of galaxy radiation, Hubble-Lemaitre law, expansion and age of the Universe.
Annotation
Historical introduction, the nature of spiral nebulae, Lindblad-Oort model, stellar motions near the Sun, interstellar matter, relaxation time, stars as the fluid, potential theory, external galaxies.
Audience: final year of MA study and other interesed students.