Physics of the invisible Sun: Instrumentation, Observations, and Inferences provides a new updated perspectives of the dramatic developments in solar physics mainly after the advent of the space era. It focusses on the instrumentation exploiting the invisible windows of the electromagnetic spectrum for observing the outer, fainter layers of the Sun. It emphasizes on the several technical and observational challenges and proceeds to discuss the discoveries related to energetic phenomena occurring in the transition region and corona. The book begins with giving a brief glimpse of the historical developments during the pre-, and post-telescopic periods of visible and spectroscopic techniques, ground-based optical and radio observing sites. Various types of telescopes and back-end instrumentation are presented based on photometry, spectroscopy, and polarimetry using the Zeeman and Hanle effects for measurement of magnetic fields, and Doppler effect for radial velocity measurements. The book discusses theoretical and observational inferences based on detection of solar neutrinos, and helioseismology as the probes of the hidden solar interior, and tests of solar standard models. The characteristic properties and observational signatures of global solar p- and g-oscillations modes, developments in local helioseismology and asteroseismology are discussed. The role of the solar magnetic field and differential rotation in the activity and magnetic cycles, prediction methodologies, and dynamo models are described. Observing the Sun in IR at the longer, and the UV, EUV, XUV, X-rays, and gamma-rays at the shorter wavelengths are covered in detail. Observational challenges at each of these wavelengths are presented followed by the instrumentation for detection and imaging that have resulted in enhancing the understanding of various solar transient phenomena, such as, flares and CMEs. The outer most corona is described as a dynamic, expanding component of the Sun from the theoretical and observational perspectives of the solar wind. It then discusses the topics of the Interplanetary magnetic field, slow and fast solar wind, interaction with magnetised and non-magnetised objects of the solar system, the space weather and the physics of the heliosphere. The chapter on the future directions in solar physics presents a brief overview of the new major facilities in various observing windows, and the future possibilities of observing the Sun from ground and vantage locations in space. Features: Systematic overview of the developments in instrumentation, observational challenges and inferences derived from ground-based and space-borne solar projects. Advances in the understanding about the solar interior from neutrinos and helioseismology. Recent research results and future directions from ground- and space-based observations. This book may serve as a reference book for scientific researchers interested in multi-wavelength instrumentation and observational aspects of solar physics. It may also be used as a textbook for a graduate-level course.

This book brings together reviews from leading international authorities on the developments in the study of dark matter and dark energy, as seen from both their cosmological and particle physics side. Studying the physical and astrophysical properties of the dark components of our Universe is a crucial step towards the ultimate goal of unveiling their nature. The work developed from a doctoral school sponsored by the Italian Society of General Relativity and Gravitation. The book starts with a concise introduction to the standard cosmological model, as well as with a presentation of the theory of linear perturbations around a homogeneous and isotropic background. It covers the particle physics and cosmological aspects of dark matter and (dynamical) dark energy, including a discussion of how modified theories of gravity could provide a possible candidate for dark energy. A detailed presentation is also given of the possible ways of testing the theory in terms of cosmic microwave background, galaxy redshift surveys and weak gravitational lensing observations. Included is a chapter reviewing extensively the direct and indirect methods of detection of the hypothetical dark matter particles. Also included is a self-contained introduction to the techniques and most important results of numerical (e.g. N-body) simulations in cosmology. " This volume will be useful to researchers, PhD and graduate students in Astrophysics, Cosmology Physics and Mathematics, who are interested in cosmology, dark matter and dark energy.

Combustion is a fascinating phenomenon coupling complex chemistry to transport mechanisms and nonlinear fluid dynamics. This book provides an up-to-date and comprehensive presentation of the nonlinear dynamics of combustion waves and other non-equilibrium energetic systems. The major advances in this field have resulted from analytical studies of simplified models performed in close relation with carefully controlled laboratory experiments. The key to understanding the complex phenomena is a systematic reduction of the complexity of the basic equations. Focusing on this fundamental approach, the book is split into three parts. Part I provides physical insights for physics-oriented readers, Part II presents detailed technical analysis using perturbation methods for theoreticians, and Part III recalls the necessary background knowledge in physics, chemistry and fluid dynamics. This structure makes the content accessible to newcomers to the physics of unstable fronts in flows, whilst also offering advanced material for scientists who wish to improve their knowledge.

Originally published in 1955, this book contains the noted discussions of a conference on the co-ordination of galactic research, which was held near Groningen, Netherlands, in June 1953 by the International Astronomical Union. 'The report given in the following chapters summarizes the most essential parts of the discussions...it was considered more desirable to have a report with the relevant remarks arranged roughly according to the scheme of the memorandum that had been drawn up before the conference as a basis for the discussions'. Topics are detailed and varied; topic titles include, 'Overall structure: nuclear region and halo', 'Local structure: distribution of different types of stars in the plane' and 'Proper motions and radial velocities'. Notably, 'some of the introductory papers have in the meantime been published'. This book, containing symposium number one, will be of significant value to anyone with an interest in astronomy, cosmology and the history of physics.

Originally published in 1959, this book contains the noted discussions of the second conference on the co-ordination of galactic research, held at Saltsjoebaden, near Stockholm, in June 1957, by the International Astronomical Union. 'The editorial work in preparing the present report has been shared by six of the participants of the conference' and 'in accordance with a decision taken at the Stockholm conference, an attempt has been made to present the material in the same way as the report of the Groningen conference of 1953'. Notably, the differences in how the editors have presented the material 'add a certain variety in the way of presentation of the subjects'. Topics are detailed and varied; topic titles include, 'Clusters and associations', 'Spiral structure' and 'The magellanic clouds'. This book, containing symposium number seven, will be of significant value to anyone with an interest in astronomy, cosmology and the history of physics.

Originally published in 1958 and following an increasing interest in electromagnetic phenomena in the decade preceding this symposium, this book contains the presented papers from symposium number 6, organised by the International Astronomical Union and held on 27th-28th and 30th-31st August 1956 at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and on 29th August at the Stockholm Observatory in Saltsjoebaden. 'The discussions were confined to such questions as could be investigated by theory, experiments and observations'. Papers are wide-ranging and include 'Stellar magnetism', 'Solar and interplanetary magnetic fields' and 'Electromagnetic state in interplanetary space'. Notably, 'final conclusions were not reached, but the discussions clearly showed the many changing aspects of magneto-hydrodynamics' and 'new aspects were presented on the origin and structure of sunspots'. Multiple photographs are included for reference. This vibrant, engaging and historical book will be of significant value to anyone with an interest in cosmical physics.

The proceedings of IAU S317 offer an updated view of the stellar halos of galaxies, from the local universe to more distant systems, discussing differences and similarities among them. They review the results of ongoing large photometric and spectroscopic surveys and compare them to the predictions of new generation simulations at the forefront of our technical capabilities. Structures are analysed on both large and small scales, with attention given to the kinematical and chemical properties of their smallest and oldest components. A number of excellent reviews on state-of-the-art research, covering fields such as first stars, galactic archaeology, stellar halos in cosmological simulations, discrete constituents of stellar halos - from field, isolated stars to globular clusters and planetary nebulae - are accompanied by contributed papers presenting the results of original research by top-level specialists in the area. IAU S317 benefits researchers with interests encompassing stellar and galactic astrophysics and galaxy evolution.

The goal of the project presented in this book is to detect neutrinos created by resonant interactions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays on the CMB photon field filling the Universe. In this pioneering first analysis, the author puts forward much of the analysis framework, including calibrations of the electronic hardware and antenna geometry, as well as the development of algorithms for event reconstruction and data reduction. While only two of the 37 stations planned for the Askaryan Radio Array were used in this assessment of 10 months of data, the analysis was able to exclude neutrino fluxes above 10 PeV with a limit not far from the best current limit set by the IceCube detector, a result which establishes the radio detection technique as the path forward to achieving the massive volumes needed to detect these ultrahigh energy neutrinos.

This book is the first account of the physics of magnetic flux tubes from their fundamental properties to collective phenomena in an ensembles of flux tubes. The physics of magnetic flux tubes is absolutely vital for understanding fundamental physical processes in the solar atmosphere shaped and governed by magnetic fields. High-resolution and high cadence observations from recent space and ground-based instruments taken simultaneously at different heights and temperatures not only show the ubiquity of filamentary structure formation but also allow to study how various events are interconnected by system of magnetic flux tubes. The book covers both theory and observations. Theoretical models presented in analytical and phenomenological forms are tailored for practical applications. These are welded with state-of-the-art observations from early decisive ones to the most recent data that open a new phase-space for exploring the Sun and sun-like stars. Concept of magnetic flux tubes is central to various magnetized media ranging from laboratory plasma and Earth's magnetosphere to planetary, stellar and galactic environments The book is a valuable resource for graduate students, solar physicists, astronomers, laboratory and space plasma physicists, geophysicists, and specialists in gas- and hydrodynamics.

The second edition of Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar System provides new insights into the burgeoning field of planetary astronomy. As in the first edition, this volume begins with a rigorous treatment of coordinate frames, basic positional astronomy, and the celestial mechanics of two and restricted three body system problems. Perturbations are treated in the same way, with clear step-by-step derivations. Then the Earth's gravitational potential field and the Earth-Moon system are discussed, and the exposition turns to radiation properties with a chapter on the Sun. The exposition of the physical properties of the Moon and the terrestrial planets are greatly expanded, with much new information highlighted on the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. All of the material is presented within a framework of historical importance. This book and its sister volume, Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar system, are pedagogically well written, providing clearly illustrated explanations, for example, of such topics as the numerical integration of the Adams-Williamson equation, the equations of state in planetary interiors and atmospheres, Maxwell's equations as applied to planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, and the physics and chemistry of the Habitable Zone in planetary systems. Together, the volumes form a comprehensive text for any university course that aims to deal with all aspects of solar and extra-solar planetary systems. They will appeal separately to the intellectually curious who would like to know how just how far our knowledge of the solar system has progressed in recent years.

This thesis describes the essential features of Moon-plasma interactions with a particular emphasis on the Earth's magnetotail plasma regime from both observational and theoretical standpoints. The Moon lacks a dense atmosphere as well as a strong intrinsic magnetic field. As a result, its interactions with the ambient plasma are drastically different from solar-wind interactions with magnetized planets such as Earth. The Moon encounters a wide range of plasma regime from the relatively dense, cold, supersonic solar-wind plasma to the low-density, hot, subsonic plasma in the geomagnetic tail. In this book, the author presents a series of new observations from recent lunar missions (i.e., Kaguya, ARTEMIS, and Chandrayaan-1), demonstrating the importance of the electron gyro-scale dynamics, plasma of lunar origin, and hot plasma interactions with lunar magnetic anomalies. The similarity and difference between the Moon-plasma interactions in the geomagnetic tail and those in the solar wind are discussed throughout the thesis. The basic knowledge presented in this book can be applied to plasma interactions with airless bodies throughout the solar system and beyond.

In early April 1911 Albert Einstein arrived in Prague to become full professor of theoretical physics at the German part of Charles University. It was there, for the first time, that he concentrated primarily on the problem of gravitation. Before he left Prague in July 1912 he had submitted the paper "Relativitat und Gravitation: Erwiderung auf eine Bemerkung von M. Abraham" in which he remarkably anticipated what a future theory of gravity should look like. At the occasion of the Einstein-in-Prague centenary an international meeting was organized under a title inspired by Einstein's last paper from the Prague period: "Relativity and Gravitation, 100 Years after Einstein in Prague". The main topics of the conference included: classical relativity, numerical relativity, relativistic astrophysics and cosmology, quantum gravity, experimental aspects of gravitation and conceptual and historical issues. The conference attracted over 200 scientists from 31 countries, among them a number of leading experts in the field of general relativity and its applications. This volume includes abstracts of the plenary talks and full texts of contributed talks and articles based on the posters presented at the conference. These describe primarily original results of the authors. Full texts of the plenary talks are included in the volume "General Relativity, Cosmology and Astrophysics--Perspectives 100 Years after Einstein in Prague", eds. J. Bicak and T. Ledvinka, published also by Springer Verlag.

India has a strong and ancient tradition of astronomy, which seamlessly merges with the current activities in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the country. While the younger generation of astronomers and students are reasonably familiar with the current facilities and the astronomical research, they might not have an equally good knowledge of the rich history of Indian astronomy. This particular volume, brought out as a part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Indian National Science Academy, concentrates on selected aspects of historical development of Indian astronomy in the form of six invited chapters. Two of the chapters - by Balachandra Rao and M.S. Sriram - cover ancient astronomy and the development of calculus in the ancient Kerela text Yuktibhasa. The other four chapters by B.V. Sreekantan, Siraj Hasan, Govind Swarup and Jayant Narlikar deal with the contemporary history of Indian astronomy covering space astronomy, optical astronomy, radio astronomy and developments in relativistic astrophysics. These chapters, written by experts in the field, provide an in-depth study of the subject and make this volume quite unique.

This brief book provides an overview of the gravitational orbital evolution of few-body systems, in particular those consisting of three bodies. The authors present the historical context that begins with the origin of the problem as defined by Newton, which was followed up by Euler, Lagrange, Laplace, and many others. Additionally, they consider the modern works from the 20th and 21st centuries that describe the development of powerful analytical methods by Poincare and others. The development of numerical tools, including modern symplectic methods, are presented as they pertain to the identification of short-term chaos and long term integrations of the orbits of many astronomical architectures such as stellar triples, planets in binaries, and single stars that host multiple exoplanets. The book includes some of the latest discoveries from the Kepler and now K2 missions, as well as applications to exoplanets discovered via the radial velocity method. Specifically, the authors give a unique perspective in relation to the discovery of planets in binary star systems and the current search for extrasolar moons.

Simon Murphy's thesis has significant impact on the wide use of the revolutionary Kepler Mission data, leading to a new understanding in stellar astrophysics. It first provides a deep characterisation and comparison of the Kepler long cadence and short cadence data, with particular insight into the Kepler reduction pipeline. It then brings together modern reviews of rotation and peculiarities in A-type stars, and their relationship with the pulsating delta Scuti stars. This is the first combined review of these subjects since the classic monograph by Sydney Wolff, "The A stars," was published three decades ago. The thesis presents a novel technique, Super-Nyquist Asteroseismology, that has opened up the asteroseismic study of thousands of Kepler stars. It shows case studies of delta Scuti stars examining amplitude growth, super-Nyquist pulsation, and pulsation in a high-amplitude, population II SX Phoenicis star in a 343-d binary. This work informs our understanding of the relation of rotation to peculiarity, hence has applications to atomic diffusion theory. This is a brilliant thesis written in an elegant and engaging style.

The thesis represents the development of an entirely new experimental platform for generating and studying converging radiative shock waves. It was discovered that the application of large magnetic pressures to gas-filled cylindrical metallic tubes could sequentially produce three shocks within the gas. A comprehensive set of instrumentation was devised to explore this system in detail and an exceptionally thorough experimental and theoretical study was carried out in order to understand the source of the shock waves and their dynamics. The research is directed towards some of the most interesting topics in high energy density physics (HEDP) today, namely the interaction of HED material with radiation and magnetic fields, with broad applications to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and laboratory plasma astrophysics. The work has already generated significant international interest in these two distinct research areas and the results could have significant importance for magnetic ICF concepts being explored at Sandia National Laboratories in the US and for our understanding of the very strong shock waves that are ubiquitous in astrophysics.

The work developed in this thesis addresses very important and relevant issues of accretion processes around black holes. Beginning by studying the time variation of the evolution of inviscid accretion discs around black holes and their properties, the author investigates the change of the pattern of the flows when the strength of the shear viscosity is varied and cooling is introduced. He succeeds to verify theoretical predictions of the so called Two Component Advective Flow (TCAF) solution of the accretion problem onto black holes through numerical simulations under different input parameters. TCAF solutions are found to be stable. And thus explanations of spectral and timing properties (including Quasi-Period Oscillations, QPOs) of galactic and extra-galactic black holes based on shocked TCAF models appear to have a firm foundation.

The search for gravitational radiation with optical interferometers is gaining momentum worldwide. Beside the VIRGO and GEO gravitational wave observatories in Europe and the two LIGOs in the United States, which have operated successfully during the past decade, further observatories are being completed (KAGRA in Japan) or planned (ILIGO in India). The sensitivity of the current observatories, although spectacular, has not allowed direct discovery of gravitational waves. The advanced detectors (Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo) at present in the development phase will improve sensitivity by a factor of 10, probing the universe up to 200 Mpc for signal from inspiraling binary compact stars. This book covers all experimental aspects of the search for gravitational radiation with optical interferometers. Every facet of the technological development underlying the evolution of advanced interferometers is thoroughly described, from configuration to optics and coatings and from thermal compensation to suspensions and controls. All key ingredients of an advanced detector are covered, including the solutions implemented in first-generation detectors, their limitations, and how to overcome them. Each issue is addressed with special reference to the solution adopted for Advanced VIRGO but constant attention is also paid to other strategies, in particular those chosen for Advanced LIGO.

Heliophysics is a fast-developing scientific discipline that integrates studies of the Sun's variability, the surrounding heliosphere, and the environment and climate of planets. This volume, the fourth in the Heliophysics collection, explores what makes the conditions on Earth 'just right' to sustain life, by comparing Earth to other solar system planets, by comparing solar magnetic activity to that of other stars, and by looking at the properties of evolving exoplanet systems. By taking an interdisciplinary approach and using comparative heliophysics, the authors illustrate how we can learn about our local cosmos by looking beyond it, and in doing so, also enable the converse. Supplementary online resources are provided, including lecture presentations, problem sets and exercise labs, making this ideal as a textbook for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, as well as a foundational reference for researchers in the many subdisciplines of helio- and astrophysics.

This thesis presents theoretical and numerical studies on phenomenological description of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), a many-body system of elementary particles. The author formulates a causal theory of hydrodynamics for systems with net charges from the law of increasing entropy and a momentum expansion method. The derived equation results can be applied not only to collider physics, but also to the early universe and ultra-cold atoms. The author also develops novel off-equilibrium hydrodynamic models for the longitudinal expansion of the QGP on the basis of these equations. Numerical estimations show that convection and entropy production during the hydrodynamic evolution are key to explaining excessive charged particle production, recently observed at the Large Hadron Collider. Furthermore, the analyses at finite baryon density indicate that the energy available for QGP production is larger than the amount conventionally assumed.

This thesis is devoted to ANTARES, the first underwater neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean sea. As the main scientific analysis, a search for high-energy neutrino emission from the region of the Fermi bubbles has been performed using data from the ANTARES detector. A method for the background estimation using off-zones has been developed specially for this measurement. A new likelihood for the limits calculation which treats both observations in the on-zone and in the off-zone in the similar way and also includes different systematic uncertainties has been constructed. The analysis of 2008–2011 ANTARES data yielded a 1.2 σ  excess of events in the Fermi bubble regions, compatible with the no-signal hypothesis. For the optimistic case of no energy cutoff in the flux, the upper limit is within a factor of three of the prediction of the purely hadronic model based on the measured gamma-ray flux. The sensitivity improves as more data are accumulated (more than 65% gain in the sensitivity is expected once 2012–2016 data are added to the analysis).

Pulsar timing is a promising method for detecting gravitational waves in the nano-Hertz band. In his prize winning Ph.D. thesis Rutger van Haasteren deals with how one takes thousands of seemingly random timing residuals which are measured by pulsar observers, and extracts information about the presence and character of the gravitational waves in the nano-Hertz band that are washing over our Galaxy. The author presents a sophisticated mathematical algorithm that deals with this issue. His algorithm is probably the most well-developed of those that are currently in use in the Pulsar Timing Array community. In chapter 3, the gravitational-wave memory effect is described. This is one of the first descriptions of this interesting effect in relation with pulsar timing, which may become observable in future Pulsar Timing Array projects. The last part of the work is dedicated to an effort to combine the European pulsar timing data sets in order to search for gravitational waves. This study has placed the most stringent limit to date on the intensity of gravitational waves that are produced by pairs of supermassive black holes dancing around each other in distant galaxies, as well as those that may be produced by vibrating cosmic strings. Rutger van Haasteren has won the 2011 GWIC Thesis Prize of the Gravitational Wave International Community for his innovative work in various directions of the search for gravitational waves by pulsar timing. The work is presented in this Ph.D. thesis.

The second edition of Solar System Astrophysics: Planetary Atmospheres and the Outer Solar System provides a timely update of our knowledge of planetary atmospheres and of the bodies of the outer solar system and their analogs in other planetary systems. This volume begins with an expanded treatment of the physics, chemistry, and meteorology of the atmospheres of the Earth, Venus, and Mars, moving on to their magnetospheres and then to a full discussion of the gas and ice giants and their properties. From here, attention switches to the small bodies of the solar system, beginning with the natural satellites. The comets, meteors, meteorites, and asteroids are discussed in order, and the volume concludes with the origin and evolution of our solar system. Finally, a fully revised section on extrasolar planetary systems puts the development of our system in a wider and increasingly well understood galactic context. All of the material is presented within a framework of historical importance. This book and its sister volume, Solar System Astrophysics: Background Science and the Inner Solar system, are pedagogically well written, providing clearly illustrated explanations, for example, of such topics as the numerical integration of the Adams-Williamson equation, the equations of state in planetary interiors and atmospheres, Maxwell's equations as applied to planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, and the physics and chemistry of the Habitable Zone in planetary systems. Together, the volumes form a comprehensive text for any university course that aims to deal with all aspects of solar and extra-solar planetary systems. They will appeal separately to the intellectually curious who would like to know how just how far our knowledge of the solar system has progressed in recent years.

Neutrinos continue to be the most mysterious and, arguably, the most fascinating particles of the Standard Model as their intrinsic properties such as absolute mass scale and CP properties are unknown. The open question of the absolute neutrino mass scale will be addressed with unprecedented accuracy by the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment, currently under construction. This thesis focusses on the spectrometer part of KATRIN and background processes therein. Various background sources such as small Penning traps, as well as nuclear decays from single radon atoms are fully characterized here for the first time. Most importantly, however, it was possible to reduce the background in the spectrometer by more than five orders of magnitude by eliminating Penning traps and by developing a completely new background reduction method by stochastically heating trapped electrons using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). The work beautifully demonstrates that the obstacles and challenges in measuring the absolute mass scale of neutrinos can be met successfully if novel experimental tools (ECR) and novel computing methods (KASSIOPEIA) are combined to allow almost background-free tritium ss-spectroscopy.

Proceedings from the 2012 Fourth International Meeting on Gravitation and Cosmology, focusing on accelerated cosmic expansion This volume provides both an update and a review of the state of alternative theories of gravity in connection with the accelerated expansion of the universe issue. Different theoretical proposals exist to explain the acceleration in the cosmic expansion, generating the dark energy issue and opening the possibility to theories of gravity alternative to general relativity. Related issues such as the dark matter problem are also surveyed in order to give the readers profound insight on the subject from different points of view. Comprised of short talks and plenary lectures given by leading experts in the field, some of them with brilliant and historic contributions, the book allows the reader to find readable and referenced surveys in topics like f(R) theories, the dark matter and dark energy issues, Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) scenarios, f(T) theories, scalar-tensor theories derived from non-Riemannian geometries, emergent universes, the cosmological constant and other topics of current interest for younger and senior physicists and graduate students. These proceedings are from the Fourth International Meeting on Gravitation and Cosmology, held in Guadalajara, Jalisco, México, from 20 - 25 May, 2012, was sponsored by ICTP- Trieste, Italy and COECyTJAL-Universidad de Guadalajara, México. This event is a series of scientific meetings started in 2004 in Cuba, focusing on current and selected topics in the fields of gravitation and cosmology.