SYLLABUS [Fall 2024]

Tue/Thu 3:30 – 5:00 pm, Phillips Hall 220
[Instructional format: in-person]

Each student has the responsibility of familiarizing themselves with the contents of this syllabus.

Instructor: Professor Christian Iliadis (office Phillips Hall 232; email: iliadis@unc.edu; webpage: https://iliadis.web.unc.edu); office hours: by appointment.

What this course is about: You will learn where nuclear reactions occur in the universe, how they generate energy to power almost all astrophysical phenomena, and how they synthesize elements and give rise to the baryonic matter composition in the cosmos. We will discuss thermonuclear reactions, nucleosynthesis, nuclear burning stages in stars, the Sun, supernovae, and related topics. You will also learn about numerical modeling. After you have taken this course, you will appreciate the physics expressed in the image shown above [which depicts the James Webb Telescope’s first Deep Field image]. You will also learn how to give effective science presentations and how to write scientific papers. You will find the course schedule appended below.

Target Audience/Prerequisites: Students who are curious and passionate about the universe. Undergraduate-level courses in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics will help you when taking this course, but are not required.

Textbook: “Nuclear Physics of Stars”, C. Iliadis (2nd edition; Wiley-VCH, 2015). Note: all of my class notes and all required computer codes will be available on Canvas.

Attendance: The course depends on your initiative and enthusiasm and thus I expect you to attend all scheduled classes. Attendance will be part of your grade (see below). Inform me via email if you cannot make it to a class session.

Ground Rules/Engagement: I request 100% of your attention during class. Be on time. Turn off your phones. Do not sleep during class. The use of cellphones, iPads, or similar, for texting, emailing, web browsing, skyping, facetiming, social media, etc., is not allowed when class is in session. If you are doing any of the above during class, it will affect your grade (see below). You may use your laptop/iPad for taking notes only.

Honor Code: Your full participation and observance of UNC-CH’s Honor code is expected. All academic work in this course, including written assignments, is to be your own work, unless otherwise specifically provided. It is your responsibility, if you have any doubt, to confirm whether or not collaboration is permitted.

AI Class Policy: I encourage the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Resources (ChatGPT, Bing, Bard, Jasper, etc.) for assignments.  Examples will be provided in class.

Homework and Examinations: There will be no graded homework, no midterms, no final exam. That’s good news…

Projects: …and there is more good news. You will choose a research topic and will write a scientific paper and give an oral class presentation about it. The topic you pick must have both a nuclear physics and astrophysics connection. I encourage you to choose your own topic, or, if you prefer,  I can suggest one to you. You will submit several iterations of your paper over the course of the semester. Due dates are listed below. Your presentation will be about 20 minutes long.

Grades: The final grade will be based on:

• Attendance [10%]
• Engagement [10%]
• Oral presentation [40%]
• Research paper [40%]

There will be no extra credit in this course.

Important Dates:
Choose research topic by: Thu, September 12.
Paper iteration #1: Thu, September 26.
Paper iteration #2: Thu, October 24.
Paper final due: Thu, November 21.
Presentations: Tue Nov. 19; Thu Nov. 21; Tue Nov. 26; Tue Dec 03 [during class].

I reserve the right to make changes on this syllabus.

COURSE SCHEDULE