A splendid resource for students and researchers wanting a physics-based overview of the extraordinary findings of X-ray, gamma-ray, and cosmic-ray astronomy. The key properties of accreting black holes, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, magnetars, galaxy clusters, and the many other fantastic denizens of the high-energy universe are highlighted, along with the tools and methods used to investigate them. -- Niel Brandt, Pennsylvania State University The introductory graduate literature available in high-energy astrophysics has not kept up with the field's explosion in breadth and impact. This ambitious and badly needed text ably surveys the field, covering an impressive range of topics while still providing good physical insight. The many illustrations, references for further study, and discussions of modern topics like theoretical computer simulations should make this book attractive to students and professors alike. -- Paolo Coppi, Yale University This is a very carefully constructed book and one that has been needed in our field for many years. Melia writes clearly, and the topics include most of the major ones that should be covered. Indeed, this is a book I would likely use in my high-energy astrophysics course here at Harvard. -- Jonathan E. Grindlay, Harvard University
Preface ix Chapter 1: Introduction and Motivation 1 1.1 The Field of High-Energy Astrophysics 1 1.2 Energies, Luminosities, and Timescales 3 1.3 Atmospheric Absorption 8 1.4 Experimental Tools of High-Energy Astrophysics 12 1.5 High-Energy Telescopes 23 Chapter 2: The High-Energy Sky 31 2.1 X-ray Maps Up to 10 keV 32 2.2 The Sky Between 10 keV and 1MeV 34 2.3 Surveys up to 30MeV 36 2.4 The Highest Energy Maps Produced in Earth Orbit 36 Chapter 3: Relativity 39 3.1 Special Relativity 39 3.2 Relativistic Transformation of Physical Laws 48 3.3 General Relativity 51 3.4 Static Spacetimes 56 Chapter 4: Particle Acceleration 67 4.1 Gravity 67 4.2 Electromagnetic Fields 70 4.3 Fermi Acceleration 76 Chapter 5: Radiative Processes 84 5.1 The Radiation Field 84 5.2 Intensity 89 5.3 Thermal Bremsstrahlung 91 5.4 Single-Particle Synchrotron Emissivity 96 5.5 Thermal Synchrotron 107 5.6 Nonthermal Synchrotron 108 5.7 Compton Scattering 111 Chapter 6: Accretion of Plasma 118 6.1 Hydrodynamics 118 6.2 Bondi-Hoyle Accretion 123 6.3 Roche Lobe Geometry in Binaries and Accretion from a Companion Star 130 6.4 Formation of a Disk 134 Chapter 7: Accretion Disk Theory 137 7.1 Viscosity and Radial Disk Structure 137 7.2 Standard Thin-Disk Theory 139 7.3 Accretion Columns 153 7.4 Two-Temperature Thin Disks 158 Chapter 8: Thick Accretion Disks 164 8.1 Thick-Disk Structure 165 8.2 Radiatively Inefficient Flows 169 Chapter 9: Pulsing Sources 182 9.1 Radio Pulsars 182 9.2 X-ray Pulsars 195 9.3 Cataclysmic Variables 199 Chapter 10: Black Holes in Binaries 210 10.1 Early Discovery of Black Holes 211 10.2 The Archetypal HMXB Cygnus X-1 217 10.3 X-ray Novae 223 10.4 QPOs in Black-Hole Binaries 226 Chapter 11: Bursting Stars 233 11.1 X-ray Burst Sources 233 11.2 Gamma-Ray Burst Sources 240 Chapter 12: Supermassive Black Holes 259 12.1 Their Discovery and Identification 259 12.2 Nearby Objects 270 12.3 Supermassive Black Holes in AGNs 285 Chapter 13: The High-Energy Background 303 13.1 Cosmic Rays 303 13.2 Galaxy Clusters 312 13.3 Diffuse Emission 316 Bibliography 327 Index 351
Fulvio Melia is professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Arizona and associate editor of the "Astrophysical Journal Letters". His books include "The Galactic Supermassive Black Hole" (Princeton).
Winner of the 2009 PROSE Award in Cosmology & Astronomy, Association of American Publishers "The well-written work provides an excellent balance between relevant graduate physics and observational summaries of key high-energy astrophysical phenomena, such as pulsars, black holes, and active galactic nuclei. The explanations are lucid and concise, and the mathematical detail is well suited to the intended audience, primarily graduate students in astrophysics."--Choice
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