Table of Contents

1. Overview; 2. Initial conditions for protostellar collapse; 3. Protostellar cloud collapse; 4. Protostellar collapse: observations vs. theory; 5. Disk accretion; 6. The disks and envelopes of T Tauri stars; 7. The FU Orionis objects; 8. Disk winds and magnetospheric accretion; 9. Disk accretion and early stellar evolution; Appendix 1. Basic hydrodynamic and MHD equations; Appendix 2. Jeans masses and fragmentation; Appendix 3. Basic radiative transfer; List of symbols; References; Index.

Promotional Information

This first comprehensive account of the dynamical processes in the formation of stars and disks from which planets ultimately form.

About the Author

Lee Hartmann is currently Professor of Astronomy at the University of Michigan and a vice-president of the American Astronomical Society. He is an expert on star formation and protoplanetary disk evolution.

Reviews

' … Lee Hartmann provides an admirable overview of our current understanding in Accretion Processes in Star Formation.' New Scientist

' … a much-needed book … It offers a wonderful overview of the subject for graduate students in astronomy and physics and for star-formation researchers … The book's greatest strength is the close interweaving of observations and theory … investigators and students of star formation should consider themselves lucky that Lee Hartmann has written such a useful book.' Physics Today