Astrophysics of The Diffuse Universe

Our purpose in writing this book is to show how physics has been applied to developing our current understanding of the phase structure, physical condi­ tions, chemical makeup and, evolution of the (thermal) interstellar medium. We hope it provides an up-to-date overview which postgraduates, advanced undergraduates, and professionals in astrophysics can use as a "reference of first resort" before going on to read the more specialist monographs or research literature.

Dealing with astrophysics derived from the radiation emitted by radioactive atomic nuclei, this book describes the different methods used to measure cosmic radio-isotopes. It demonstrates how this astronomical window has contributed to the understanding of the sources and the chemical evolution of cosmic gas. Reference materials and explanations are included for students in advanced stages of their education.

This class is an introduction to the modern extragalactic astronomy and cosmology, i.e., the part of astrophysics that deals with the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole, and its major constituents: dark matter, dark energy, galaxies, quasars, large-scale structure, and intergalactic gas.