XXVII Canary Islands Winter School 2015

Lecture 1: Introduction to compact objects:  The sources of power
- Rotation (pulsars)
- Magnetic fields (Magnetars)
- Gravitation (basics of accretion in binary system with a compact star/BH)
- mass transfer
- accretion flows (hot vs cold) and interaction with compact star
(magnetised vs unmagnetised, hard surface vs no surface)
- Jet launching
- Thermo-nuclear (Novae/X-ray bursters)

Lecture 1: HTRA: history across all wavelengths, with emphasis on space science technology
- From optical photographic to photoelectric photometry at ground-based observatories
- First discoveries in space at X-ray wavelengths, with rockets, then satellite surveys
- Fast timing capabiities of Uhuru, OAO-C, SAS-3, HEAO-1 - all with proportional counters
- X-ray pulsars, bursters
- use of fast timing to provide spatial resolution
- Larger collecting areas of EXOSAT, Ginga revealed QPOs, and (RXTE) MSXPs
- Early detectors for HST, EUVE

Lecture 1: ULTRACAM
- High time-resolution astrophysics (HTRA) - what is it and why study it?
- The detection of light - an introduction to CCDs
- Instrumentation for high-speed photometry I: ULTRACAM
- ULTRACAM: science highlights

Lecture 1:
- Timescales across the HR diagram
- Key (optical) properties of compact objects
- Compact binary systems & accretion variability

Lecture 2: ULTRASPEC
- An introduction to EMCCDs
- Instrumentation for high-speed spectroscopy: ULTRASPEC on the ESO 3.6m and NTT
- Instrumentation for high-speed photometry II: ULTRASPEC on the TNT

Lecture 2: Radiation processes:
- Cyclo-synchrotron
- Curvature radiation
- Compton
- Bremstrahlung
- Electron/positron pair production and annihilation

Lecture 2: HTRA: Current technologies
- X-ray: RXTE to ASTROSAT, Chandra, XMM, NuSTAR
- optical/IR: EMCCDs, APDs, MCP-based systems
- UV: HST, Galex

Lecture 1: Fourier theory
- Continuous and discrete Fourier Transform
- Power spectra
- Window carpentry
- FFT

Lecture 2:
- Oscillations, pulsations and seismology
- Transits and Eclipses

Lecture 2: Poissonian
- Normalization
- Spectrograms
- Welch
- Time-frequency
- Rebinning
- Dead-time
- Fitting PDS

Lecture 3:  Models for the variable multi-wavelength emission of black hole
binaries: accretion flow
- The structure of inner accretion flow inferred from X-ray spectral modelling
- The most popular model for the X-ray fast variability and QPOs
- Fast optical variability from the accretion flow:
   * disk reprocessing
   * synchrotron emission from non-thermal particles in the hot corona
- Optical QPOs  from the accretion flow

Lecture 3 & 4:
- Reconstruction methods
- Fast photometry
- Lightcurve modeling demo

Lecture 3: Types of signals
-- Normalization
- Spectrograms
- Welch
- Time-frequency
- Rebinning
- Dead-time
- Fitting PDS

Lecture 3; HTRA: Future developments/new technologies
 - X-ray: AXTAR, LOFT, XEUS/Athena, Lobster concept
 - optical/IR; MKIDS, STJs, ultra-fast detectors

Lecture 4: Models for the variable multi-wavelength emission of black hole
binaries:  compact jets
- standard jet spectral model and the problem of dissipation in jets
- the internal shock model: multi-wavelength spectral and timing properties
- IR/optical QPOs from jet precession
- IR/opt/X-ray fast timing correlations as a probe for the coupled dynamics of accretion and ejection

Lecture 3: HiPERCAM
- How can we improve ULTRACAM and what would this enable us to do?
- Eliminating atmospheric scintillation noise: Conjugate-plane photometry
- Instrumentation for high-speed photometry III: HiPERCAM

Lecture 4: ULTRACAM data reduction pipeline
- Demonstration of how to reduce photometric data using the ULTRACAM pipeline software.

Lectures 5 & 6:
- Multi-wavelength aspects
- Fast spectroscopy
- Spectroscopy analysis demo

Lectures 5 & 6:
- Multi-wavelength aspects
- Fast spectroscopy
- Spectroscopy analysis demo

Lecture 1:
- Accretion onto compact objects
- X-ray binaries
- Black-hole binaries (BHB)
- X-ray pulsars

Lecture 1:
- Gamma-ray production in various source classes
- Producing variability on the gamma ray regime

Lecture 2:
- Brief history of space-based gamma-ray astronomy
- Detecting gamma rays
- Fermi mission and instruments

Lecture 2:
- High-energy emission
- BHB spectra

Lecture 3:
- BHB time variability
- Evolution of transients
- BH states

Lecture 3:
- Variable Gamma-ray Sources
- Blazars, GRBs and other Extragalactic sources
- Pulsars, Binaries and Novae

Lecture 1: Rudiments on pulsars
- Formation of neutron stars
- Energetics
- Basics of pulsar electrodynamics
- Profile phenomenology
- Zoology

Lecture 2: Binary pulsars and their evolution
- Basics of binary and accretion theory
- High mass binary pulsar evolution
- Low mass binary pulsar evolution
- Transitional and eclipsing binaries
- Other interesting binaries

Lecture 4:
- Radio/IR emission
- Relativistic jets
- Accretion/ejection
- Wind outflows
-Links to variability

Lecture 5:
- BH parameters
- Generagl Relativity tests
- AGN connection

Lecture 4:
- Data structure for the Fermi-LAT
- Temporal signatures in Fermi data
- Concerns for data analysis of time-variable sources

Lecture 3: Pulsar timing concepts [isolated pulsars]
- Timing observation procedure
- Barycentering the data at infinite frequency
- Timing model

Lecture 4: Pulsar timing concepts [binary pulsars]
- Classical orbit laws
- Relativistic effects
- Binary corrections to the timing model of an isolated pulsar

Lecture 6:
- Neutron-star binaries
- Ultra-luminous X0ray sources
- Lags and reverberation mapping

Lecture 5: Pulsar timing as a tool for fundamental physics (a)
- Constraints to general relativity
- The case of the Double pulsar
- Constraints to general theories of gravity

Lecture 6: Pulsar timing as a tool for fundamental physics (b)
- Direct detection of gravitational waves
- Constraints on nuclear matter interactions
- Investigations of globular clusters, ism, galactic B-field

Lecture 5:
- Data Analysis with the Fermi-LAT
- Maximum Likelihood
- Gamma-ray Catalogs and why we need them