Syllabus
* Structure and kinematics of galaxies
Classification and basic characteristics of galaxies; structural subsystems of galaxies; clusters of galaxies; galactic halo (stellar halo, dark matter halo). Motion of stars in galaxies; gravitational potential of galaxies; spiral arms and bars as symmetric gravitational potentials; effective potential, Lagrange points, Lindblad resonances, co-rotational resonance. Gas in galaxies - basic observational overview of molecular, atomic and ionized gas in galaxies; trajectories of gas clouds in the galactic potentials; transfer of the angular momentum. Milky way - structure and kinematics. Local group of galaxies. Hierarchical structure of clusters and super-clusters of galaxies. Cosmic strings and walls.
* Dynamics and evolution of galaxies
Kinetic theory - distribution function; Boltzmann equation; velocity dispersion tensor; collisionless approximation; relaxational time. Fluid approximation - Jeans equations, Jeans theorems, tensor virial theorem. Dynamical equilibrium of galaxies. Gravitational instability in 2D abd 3D; Jeans criterion, Jeans mass, Jeans wave-length, Toomre’s criterion. Theory of spiral density waves. Kinematic vs. dynamical waves. Mutual interaction of galaxies; interaction of galaxies with an inter-galactic gas. Dark matter; radial acceleration in galaxies. Formation and evolution of stars and their influence on the evolution of galaxies; chemical evolution of galaxies; colour diagram of galaxies; main sequence of galaxies. Lambda-CDM model of evolution of galaxies. Numerical simulations. Cosmic web. Overview of observations of galaxies at different cosmological distances. Active galactic nuclei; co-evolution of galaxies and super-massive black holes.
Annotation
Lecture is dedicated to basic theories of dynamics of stellar systems on the scales of galaxies and star clusters.