E-Book Overview
In the interstellar medium - the space between the stars in galaxies - new stars are born from material that is replenished by the debris ejected by stars when they die. This book is a comprehensive manual for studying the collisional and radiative processes observed in the interstellar medium. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and extended to cover related topics in radiation theory. It considers the chemistry of the interstellar medium both at the present epoch and in the early Universe, and discusses the physics and chemistry of shock waves. The methods of calculation of the rates of collisional excitation of interstellar molecules and atoms are explained, emphasising the quantum mechanical method. This book will be ideal for researchers involved in the interstellar medium and star formation, and physical chemists specialising in collision theory or in the measurement of the rates of collision processes.
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MOLECULAR COLLISIONS IN THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM Second Edition
In the interstellar medium – which occupies the space between the stars in galaxies – new stars are born from material that is replenished by the debris ejected by stars when they die. This book presents a detailed account of the atomic and molecular processes which give rise to the radiation we observe from the interstellar medium, knowledge that is essential to understanding star formation in our own and other galaxies. This Second Edition has been thoroughly updated and extended to cover related topics in radiation theory. It considers the chemistry of the interstellar medium, both in the present epoch and the early Universe. The book discusses the physics and chemistry of shock waves, which are produced by the jets of matter generated as a consequence of star formation. The methods for calculating rates of collisional excitation of interstellar molecules and atoms are explained, with emphasis on the quantum mechanical method. A comprehensive manual for studying collisional and radiative processes in the interstellar medium, this book will be ideal for researchers involved in calculating the rates of such processes, for those studying the interstellar medium and star formation, as well as for physical chemists specializing in collision theory or in the measurement of the rates of collision processes. david flower is a professor of physics at the University of Durham, UK. He is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and an editor of the Society’s astronomy research journal, Monthly Notices. His research interests include atomic and molecular physics in astrophysical environments, and the physics of the interstellar medium.
Cambridge Astrophysics Series Series editors
Andrew King, Douglas Lin, Stephen Maran, Jim Pringle and Martin Ward 7. 10. 18. 19. 22. 24. 26. 27. 28. 29. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.
Titles available in the series Spectroscopy of Astrophysical Plasmas edited by A. Dalgarno and D. Layzer Quasar Astronomy by Daniel W. Weedman Plasma Loops in the Solar Corona by R. J. Bray, L. E. Cram, C. Durrant, R. E. Loughhead Beams and Jets in Astrophysics edited by P. A. Hughes Gamma-ray Astronomy 2nd Edition by P. V. Ramana Murthy, A. W. Wolfendale Solar and Stellar Activity Cycles by Peter R. Wilson X-ray Binaries by Walter H. G. Lewin, Jan van Paradijs, Edward P. J. van den Heuvel RR Lyrae Stars by Horace A. Smith Cataclysmic Variable Stars by Brian Warner The Magellanic Clouds by Bengt E. Westerlund Accretion Processes in Star Formation by Lee Hartmann The Origin and Evolution of Planetary Nebulae by Sun Kwok Solar and Stellar Magnetic Activity by Carolus J. Schrijver, Cornelis Zwaan The Galaxies of the Local Group by Sidney van den Bergh Stellar Rotation by Jean-Louis Tassoul Extreme Ultraviolet Astronomy by Martin A. Barstow, Jay