Astronomie spatiale infrarouge, aujourd'hui et demain Infrared space astronomy, today and tomorrow


Book Description

This book brings together the lectures given at the Les Houches summer school "Infrared space astronomy, today and tomorrow". It gives a wide overview of infrared astronomy, a wavelength domain crucial for studies of the solar system, stars at the beginning and end of their lives, interstellar matter and galaxies at all distances. Recent developments in observational techniques have been tremendous. The first contributions give an introduction to the basic physical processes and methods of detection and data processing. They are followed by a series of lectures dealing with the wide variety of astronomical objects that can be seen in the infrared.







Index of Conference Proceedings


Book Description




An Introduction to Active Galactic Nuclei


Book Description

How can we test if a supermassive black hole lies at the heart of every active galactic nucleus? What are LINERS, BL Lacs, N galaxies, broad-line radio galaxies and radio-quiet quasars and how do they compare? This timely textbook answers these questions in a clear, comprehensive and self-contained introduction to active galactic nuclei - for graduate students in astronomy and physics. The study of AGN is one of the most dynamic areas of contemporary astronomy, involving one fifth of all research astronomers. This textbook provides a systematic review of the observed properties of AGN across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, examines the underlying physics, and shows how the brightest AGN, quasars, can be used to probe the farthest reaches of the Universe. This book serves as both an entry point to the research literature and as a valuable reference for researchers in the field.




Image Processing and Data Analysis


Book Description

Powerful techniques have been developed in recent years for the analysis of digital data, especially the manipulation of images. This book provides an in-depth introduction to a range of these innovative, avante-garde data-processing techniques. It develops the reader's understanding of each technique and then shows with practical examples how they can be applied to improve the skills of graduate students and researchers in astronomy, electrical engineering, physics, geophysics and medical imaging. What sets this book apart from others on the subject is the complementary blend of theory and practical application. Throughout, it is copiously illustrated with real-world examples from astronomy, electrical engineering, remote sensing and medicine. It also shows how many, more traditional, methods can be enhanced by incorporating the new wavelet and multiscale methods into the processing. For graduate students and researchers already experienced in image processing and data analysis, this book provides an indispensable guide to a wide range of exciting and original data-analysis techniques.




Probabilistic Inductive Logic Programming


Book Description

This book provides an introduction to probabilistic inductive logic programming. It places emphasis on the methods based on logic programming principles and covers formalisms and systems, implementations and applications, as well as theory.




Quantum Mechanics, Volume 3


Book Description

This new, third volume of Cohen-Tannoudji's groundbreaking textbook covers advanced topics of quantum mechanics such as uncorrelated and correlated identical particles, the quantum theory of the electromagnetic field, absorption, emission and scattering of photons by atoms, and quantum entanglement. Written in a didactically unrivalled manner, the textbook explains the fundamental concepts in seven chapters which are elaborated in accompanying complements that provide more detailed discussions, examples and applications. * Completing the success story: the third and final volume of the quantum mechanics textbook written by 1997 Nobel laureate Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and his colleagues Bernard Diu and Franck Laloë * As easily comprehensible as possible: all steps of the physical background and its mathematical representation are spelled out explicitly * Comprehensive: in addition to the fundamentals themselves, the books comes with a wealth of elaborately explained examples and applications Claude Cohen-Tannoudji was a researcher at the Kastler-Brossel laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris where he also studied and received his PhD in 1962. In 1973 he became Professor of atomic and molecular physics at the Collège des France. His main research interests were optical pumping, quantum optics and atom-photon interactions. In 1997, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, together with Steven Chu and William D. Phillips, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms. Bernard Diu was Professor at the Denis Diderot University (Paris VII). He was engaged in research at the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and High Energy where his focus was on strong interactions physics and statistical mechanics. Franck Laloë was a researcher at the Kastler-Brossel laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. His first assignment was with the University of Paris VI before he was appointed to the CNRS, the French National Research Center. His research was focused on optical pumping, statistical mechanics of quantum gases, musical acoustics and the foundations of quantum mechanics.




Green's Functions and Linear Differential Equations


Book Description

Green's Functions and Linear Differential Equations: Theory, Applications, and Computation presents a variety of methods to solve linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) and partial differential equations (PDEs). The text provides a sufficient theoretical basis to understand Green's function method, which is used to solve initial and boundary




The Hubble Deep Field


Book Description

The Hubble Deep Field (HDF) is the deepest optical image of the Universe ever obtained. It is the result of a 150-orbit observing programme with the Hubble Space Telescope. It provides a unique resource for researchers studying the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. This timely volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the HDF and its scientific impact on our understanding in cosmology. It presents articles by a host of world experts who gathered together at an international conference at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The contributions combine observations of the HDF at a variety of wavelengths with the latest theoretical progress in our understanding of the cosmic history of star and galaxy formation. The HDF is set to revolutionize our understanding in cosmology. This book therefore provides an indispensable reference for all graduate students and researchers in observational or theoretical cosmology.




Quantum Theory of Finite Systems


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive and pedagogical account of the various methods used in the quantum theory of finite systems, including molecular, atomic, nuclear, and particle phenomena. Covering both background material and advanced topics and including nearly 200 problems, Quantum Theory of Finite Systems has been designed to serve primarily as a text and will also prove useful as a reference in research. The first of the book's four parts introduces the basic mathematical apparatus: second quantization, canonical transformations, Wick theorems and the resulting diagram expansions, and oscillator models. The second part presents mean field approximations and the recently developed path integral methods for the quantization of collective modes. Part three develops perturbation theory in terms of both time-dependent Feynman diagrams and time-independent Goldstone diagrams. A fourth part discusses variational methods based on correlated wavefunctions, including spin correlations. The approximation schemes are formulated for fermions and bosons at eigher zero or non-zero temperature. Although the formalism developed applies to both finite and infinite systems, the book stresses those aspects of the theory that are specific to the description of finite systems. Thus special attention is given to mean field approximations, the ensuing broken symmetries, and the associated collective motions such as rotations. Conversely, some specific features of systems with infinite numbers of degrees of freedom (such as the thermodynamic limit, critical phenomena, and the elimination of ultraviolet divergencies) are deliberately omitted. Jean-Paul Blaizot and Georges Ripka are associated with the Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay.