Physics 3656: Introduction to Astrophysics II --- Galaxies, Cosmology, Planets

Spring Semester 2013
Section 11M (CRN 15580): MWF 11:15am-12:05pm, 105 Robeson

http://www1.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/phys3656

Instructor

J. H. Simonetti, 319 Robeson, 231-8740, jsimonetti -AT- vt.edu
Office hours: MWF 10am-11am, or by appointment

TA (Homework grader)

Chris Martin, cmart07 -AT- vt.edu
Office hours: by appointment

Optional Text

Astrophysics in a Nutshell, by Maoz (Princeton University Press)

Course Philosophy and Prerequisites

This is a junior level physics course, but you may not find it as rigorous as junior level electricity and magnetism, for example. On the other hand, this is not a course in "descriptive" astronomy for non-science majors. Your challenging task will be to gain some quantitative understanding of the universe based on simple physical principles.

The style of the course will be different from that of "fundamental" physics courses: this is "applied" physics. Artificial divisions between separate course subjects will fade. Problems will concern real situations. In many cases we will only be able to obtain rough answers. It's a vast subject, and some of our time will be spent just describing what's out there, so we know what we are trying to understand.

Two semesters of introductory physics (PHYS 2305, 2306) are required prerequisites. This implies a considerable amount of calculus as well. Anyone who has taken these courses will be well prepared for this course.

Exams

Three non-cumulative exams, each covering a major part of the course, and each having equal weight in computing your final grade. The first and second exams are tentatively scheduled for Monday, February 25, in class, and Monday, April 8, in class. The third exam will take place during finals week and is scheduled for Wednesday, May 15, 10:05am-12:05pm. The exams are "open notes," but not "open book" --- you can use any handwritten notes you want (probably your lecture notes, at least). If you anticipate missing any exam (for good reason only!), you must tell me before the scheduled exam time, or you will receive a zero for that exam.

Homework

Each week or so, a problem set will be assigned. Homework will be collected at the beginning of class on the due date; no late homework will be accepted. The homework problems are meant to challenge your understanding of the material covered in class and therefore lead you to a deeper understanding of the concepts. They will also, in some instances, extend a topic.

Each problem set will be marked 10, 5, or 0 depending upon your effort and the results you produced. A full score of 10 means you put a good effort into the set, and obtained reasonable (but not necessarily entirely correct) results. A score of zero means you put an unacceptably minimal effort into the set, and obtained only a few reasonable results at most. A score of 5 lies somewhere in between. Your homework scores will make up 15% of your final course grade. Doing the homework will add to your understanding of the material and the real payoff, if you put in the effort, will be in your examination scores!

After a problem set's due date, solutions will be posted on Scholar, Graded homework will be handed back in class.

Independent Research Assignments

There will be two Independent Research Assignments (IRAs) due during the semester. The first is tentatively due Monday, March 4, in class. The second is tentatively due Monday, April 15, in class. These are not expected to be large assignments; you do not need to write a long paper for these --- only two pages. One page devoted to telling what the topic is, the second page showing the details of a relevant calculation you have performed. I will give out more information on what is expected, in class.

Final Grades

A weighted average of your work will be computed using the following weights: Exams 1, 2, and 3 are each worth 20% of your final grade. IRA1 an IRA2 are each worth 10% (so, together they are worth a total of 20%). Your homework is worth 20%. Your letter grade will be determined by how you rank with respect to the class average. The class average may be set equal to about a C+ to B-, although this will depend somewhat on the class as a whole. The letter in your grade (A,B,C,D,F) gets better (or worse) by about one letter for each number of standard deviations your final score lies above (or below) the class average.

E-mail Communications

You are encouraged to send to me, via e-mail, any questions you may have about the course material (my e-mail address is jsimonetti -AT- vt.edu). You may find this especially useful while doing homework! I will attempt to answer your questions as soon as possible. To ensure your message is not lost among the many other messages I receive, please be sure to include "3656" somewhere in the subject heading of the message. For the benefit of all, I will remove anything from the message that would identify you (e.g., your name, e-mail address, etc.), and send a response out to the entire class. I may also e-mail important announcements to the class; up-to-date information can always be found on the webpage for the course.

Observatory

If you want to see for yourself some of the objects/phenomena we are discussing, go to the Virginia Tech observatory during one of its open houses. See the Open House Website for details. No extra credit for going to the observatory --- it's just for your own enrichment.

Intellectual Integrity

The honor code pertains to this course. I encourage you to work with others when studying the material. I also encourage you to discuss homework problems and IRAs with others. Such discussions will help you learn the material. However, you must write up your own individual homework solutions and IRAs. Your exam solutions must, of course, be entirely your own work.

Student Accommodations

If you need adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, if you have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please see me.

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