PHYSICS367

A small fraction of stars end their lives as a supernova, an explosive display that lasts for another tiny fraction of the star's life. Yet these rare and brief occurrences play an important role in the evolution of stars and galaxies, enriching the environment with metals, injecting momentum and energy into their surroundings, affecting star formation and other processes. No less important, these transient laboratories of high-energy astrophysics are very bright, sometimes as bright as an entire galaxy. We can now routinely detect them halfway across the Universe, not just to study them but also to use them as probes of their surroundings and even of the fundamental geometry of the Universe. In this course we will cover the physics of supernovae, what is known, what is not, how they are used as probes, and the observational and theoretical challenges that lay ahead. As time permits we will also discuss some more or less distant cousins to supernovae such as gamma ray bursts, fast radio bursts, gravitational waves sources, and tidal disruption events. This course is intended for graduate students but should be accessible to advanced undergraduates. Recommended prerequisites: PHYSICS 260 and PHYSICS 261 or equivalent.