Accretion Power in Astrophysics

This newly expanded and thoroughly updated third edition examines accretion as a source of energy in both binary star systems containing compact objects, and in active galactic nuclei. Assuming a basic knowledge of physics, the authors describe the physical processes at work in accretion discs and other accretion flows. New material includes a detailed treatment of disc instabilities, irradiated discs, disc warping, and general accretion flows. The treatment is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers.

Andrew King

Derek Raine

Juhan Frank

Cambridge University Press

BLACK HOLES: AN INTRODUCTION

<p>This introduction to the fascinating subject of black holes fills a significant gap in the literature which exists between popular, non-mathematical expositions and advanced textbooks at the research level. It is designed for advanced undergraduates and first year postgraduates as a useful stepping-stone to the advanced literature. The book provides an accessible introduction to the exact solutions of Einstein’s vacuum field equations describing spherical and axisymmetric (rotating) black holes. The geometry and physical properties of these spacetimes are explored through the motion of particles and light. The use of different coordinate systems, maximal extensions and Penrose diagrams is explained. The association of the surface area of a black hole with its entropy is discussed and it is shown that with the introduction of quantum mechanics black holes cease to be black and can radiate. This result allows black holes to satisfy the laws of thermodynamics and thus be consistent with the rest of physics.</p>

Science & Math

Edwin Thomas

Astronomy & Space Science

IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS

Newtonian mechanics is taught as part of every physics program for several reasons. It is a towering intellectual achievement; it has diverse applications; and it provides a context for teaching modelling and problem solving. This text gives equal prominence to all three missions. It therefore includes some advanced material as well as the customary introductory topic and is designed to be studied over an extended time-frame, somewhat beyond the first year of an English university physics programme. The problem-solving aspects are developed more fully than in many other texts; showing students how problems are approached and bringing out the ways of going about constructing a model and solution. Each chapter starts with a problem, for which the following text provides the background to a solution. I hope that knowing what the question is makes the following material more digestible. Some end-of -chapter question, but not drill exercises are so readily available (and contractible) that it seemed an extravagant use of paper to write yet more. It is a handy book for all the undergraduate students of Physics.

Mechanics: A Modelling Approach

Medtec

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Books by Derek Raine