Stellar Structure and Evolution

Stellar Structure and Evolution, the second volume in the Ohio State Astrophysics Series, takes advantage of our new era of stellar astrophysics, in which modern techniques allow us to map the interiors of stars in unprecedented detail. This textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students aims to develop a broad physical understanding of the fundamental principles that dictate stellar properties. The study of stellar evolution focuses on the 'life cycle' of stars: how they are born, how they live, and how they die. As elements ejected by one generation of stars are incorporated into the next generation, stellar evolution is intertwined with the chemical evolution of our galaxy. Focusing on key physical processes without going into encyclopedic depth, the authors present stellar evolution in a contemporary context, including phenomena such as pulsations, mass loss, binary interactions, and rotation, which contribute to our understanding of stars.

Marc Pinsonneault received his Ph.D. in Astronomy from Yale University in 1988. He is a full professor of Astronomy at The Ohio State University, where he has been teaching since 1994. He has an extensive research record in theoretical models of stellar structure and evolution, with an emphasis on stellar rotation and magnetism, rotationally induced mixing, helio- and asteroseismology, solar models, and solar neutrinos. He was elected a Fellow of the AAAS in 2010 and was recognized as a Distinguished University Scholar at Ohio State in 2017.

Barbara Ryden received her Ph.D. in astrophysical sciences from Princeton University. After postdocs at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, she joined the astronomy faculty at The Ohio State University, where she is a full professor. She has thirty years of experience in teaching, at levels ranging from introductory undergraduate courses to advanced graduate seminars. She won the Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for her textbook Introduction to Cosmology (2016), and she is co-author, with Richard Pogge, of Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium (2021).