The Labyrinth of Star Formation


Book Description

This volume contains the proceedings from the conference "The Labyrinth of Star Formation" that was held in Crete, Greece, in June 2012, to honour the contributions to the study of star formation made by Professor Anthony Whitworth of Cardiff University. The book covers many aspects of theoretical and observational star formation: low-mass star formation; young circumstellar discs; computational methods; triggered star formation; the stellar initial mass function; high-mass star formation and stellar clusters. Each section starts with a review paper, followed by papers discussing recent theoretical and observational work. This volume summarises our current understanding of star formation and is useful for both graduate students and researchers alike.




Star-Formation Rates of Galaxies


Book Description

Star-formation is one of the key processes that shape the current state and evolution of galaxies. This volume provides a comprehensive presentation of the different methods used to measure the intensity of recent or on-going star-forming activity in galaxies, discussing their advantages and complications in detail. It includes a thorough overview of the theoretical underpinnings of star-formation rate indicators, including topics such as stellar evolution and stellar spectra, the stellar initial mass function, and the physical conditions in the interstellar medium. The authors bring together in one place detailed and comparative discussions of traditional and new star-formation rate indicators, star-formation rate measurements in different spatial scales, and comparisons of star-formation rate indicators probing different stellar populations, along with the corresponding theoretical background. This is a useful reference for students and researchers working in the field of extragalactic astrophysics and studying star-formation in local and higher-redshift galaxies.




Stellar Rotation


Book Description




The Physics of Star Formation and Early Stellar Evolution


Book Description

The origin of stars is one of the principle mysteries of nature. During the last two decades advances in technology have enabled more progress to be made in the quest to understand stellar origins than at any other time in history. The study of star formation has developed into one of the most important branches of mod ern astrophysical research. A large body of observational data and a considerable literat ure now exist concerning this topic and a 1arge community of international astronomers and physicists devote their efforts attempting to decipher the secrets of stellar birth. Yet, the young astronomerjphysicist or more advanced researcher desiring to obtain a basic background in this area of research must sift through a very diverse and sometimes bewildering literature. A literature which includes research in many discip1ines and sub discip1ines of classical astrophysics from stel lar structure to the interstellar medium and encompasses the entire range of the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma rays. Often, the reward of a suc cessfu1 foray through the current literature is the realization that the results can be obsolete and outdated as soon as the ink is dry in the journal or the conference proceeding in which they are published.




Unfolding the Labyrinth: Open Problems in Physics, Mathematics, Astrophysics, and other areas of science


Book Description

Throughout this book, we discuss some open problems in various branches of science, including mathematics, theoretical physics, astrophysics, geophysics etc. It is of our hope that some of the problems discussed in this book will find their place either in theoretical exploration or further experiments, while some parts of these problems may be found useful for scholarly stimulation.The present book is also intended for young physics and mathematics fellows who will perhaps find the unsolved problems described here are at least worth pondering. If this book provides only a few highlights of plausible solutions, it is merely to keep the fun of readers in discovering the answers by themselves. Bon voyage!




Out of the Labyrinth


Book Description

Out of the Labyrinth is a literary romance novel of ideas about synchronicity, reincarnation, and unprecedented uses of technologytold from the viewpoint of a freethinker in search of enlightened peers with whom to jam, an authentic mystic with whom to study, and an intellectual babe with whom to shack up.... After a decade of conducting experiments in posthumous sustain with the use of super computers and theurgic drugs, a wealthy programming wiz has a suspicious motorcycle accident, falls into a coma, but is sustained by a computer system and his Zen teacher, an American original with extraordinary powers.... The books mellifluous language, the keen psychological insights, the succinct articulation of the main philosophical arguments for and against the existence of god, the insightful connections among classics from The Republic to Ulysses, and the synthesis of Western skepticism with Eastern mysticism comprise a profoundly original thesis about humanitys potential for immortality in this universe and on to others, beginning in the here and nowtold from the perspective of a freethinker looking for the intellectual babe of his dreams while his alter ego is pestering him to hurry up and get laid....




Dynamical Astrochemistry


Book Description

Astrochemistry is a well-established interdisciplinary subject and the methods for describing time-dependent chemistry in static or slowly-changing regions of interstellar space have been well-developed over many years. Existing astrochemical books normally describe the subject in terms of chemistry in static or slowly-varying astronomical situations but the most significant astronomical regions are those in which the physical conditions change on timescales that are comparable to or shorter than chemical timescales. Written by leading experts in this area, this is the first book specifically devoted to the astrochemistry of dynamically evolving astronomical regions. It provides a comprehensive description of this important area of science, stressing in particular the methods that have been developed for specific purposes. It will be of interest to researchers in astrochemistry, including both chemists and physicists and could form the basis of a postgraduate course for research students in chemistry and physics.




Dwarf Galaxies: Keys to Galaxy Formation and Evolution


Book Description

Dwarf galaxy research constitutes an extremely vibrant field of astrophysical research, with many long-standing questions still unsettled and new ones constantly arising. The intriguing diversity of the dwarf galaxy population, observed with advanced ground-based and space-borne observatories over a wide spectral window providing an unprecedented level of detail, poses new challenges for both observers and theoreticians. The aim of this symposium was to bring together these two groups to exchange ideas and new results on the many evolutionary aspects of and open issues concerning dwarf galaxies. The main topics addressed include: the birth of dwarf galaxies: theoretical concepts and observable relics across wavelengths and time, the morphological, structural and chemical evolution of dwarf galaxies, possible evolutionary connections between early-type and late-type dwarfs, the star formation history of dwarf galaxies and its dependence on intrinsic and environmental properties, the origin and implications of starburst activity in dwarf galaxies, the fate of dwarfish systems born out of tidally ejected matter in galaxy collisions.




The Illustrated Wavelet Transform Handbook


Book Description

This second edition of The Illustrated Wavelet Transform Handbook: Introductory Theory and Applications in Science, Engineering, Medicine and Finance has been fully updated and revised to reflect recent developments in the theory and practical applications of wavelet transform methods. The book is designed specifically for the applied reader in science, engineering, medicine and finance. Newcomers to the subject will find an accessible and clear account of the theory of continuous and discrete wavelet transforms, while readers already acquainted with wavelets can use the book to broaden their perspective. One of the many strengths of the book is its use of several hundred illustrations, some in colour, to convey key concepts and their varied practical uses. Chapters exploring these practical applications highlight both the similarities and differences in wavelet transform methods across different disciplines and also provide a comprehensive list of over 1000 references that will serve as a valuable resource for further study. Paul Addison is a Technical Fellow with Medtronic, a global medical technology company. Previously, he was co-founder and CEO of start-up company, CardioDigital Ltd (and later co-founded its US subsidiary, CardioDigital Inc) - a company concerned with the development of novel wavelet-based methods for biosignal analysis. He has a master’s degree in engineering and a PhD in fluid mechanics, both from the University of Glasgow, Scotland (founded 1451). His former academic life as a tenured professor of fluids engineering included the output of a large number of technical papers, covering many aspects of engineering and bioengineering, and two textbooks: Fractals and Chaos: An Illustrated Course and the first edition of The Illustrated Wavelet Transform Handbook. At the time of publication, the author has over 100 issued US patents concerning a wide range of medical device technologies, many of these concerning the wavelet transform analysis of biosignals. He is both a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Physicist.




Dynamics of Young Star Clusters and Associations


Book Description

Where do most stars (and the planetary systems that surround them) in the Milky Way form? What determines whether a young star cluster remains bound (such as an open or globular cluster), or disperses to join the field stars in the disc of the Galaxy? These questions not only impact understanding of the origins of stars and planetary systems like our own (and the potential for life to emerge that they represent), but also galaxy formation and evolution, and ultimately the story of star formation over cosmic time in the Universe. This volume will help readers understand our current views concerning the answers to these questions as well as frame new questions that will be answered by the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite that was launched in late 2013. The book contains the elaborated notes of lectures given at the 42nd Saas-Fee Advanced Course “Dynamics of Young Star Clusters & Associations" by Cathie Clarke (University of Cambridge) who presents the theory of star formation and dynamical evolution of stellar systems, Robert Mathieu (University of Wisconsin) who discusses the kinematics of star clusters and associations, and I. Neill Reid (S pace Telescope Science Institute) who provides an overview of the stellar populations in the Milky Way and speculates on from whence came the Sun. As part of the Saas-Fee Advanced Course Series, the book offers an in-depth introduction to the field serving as a starting point for Ph.D. research and as a reference work for professional astrophysicists.