Problem Set 4

HCAstro Winter Training 2021

1. To an astronomer, a metal is any element heavier than helium. For example, neon
gas is a metal, in direct contrast with chemists’ terminology.
a) Define the metallicity of a star, and state our Sun’s metallicity.
b) By considering the formation of elements in the process of nuclear fusion, explain
how metallicity can be used to estimate the time at which a star formed.
c) Stars are often classified into three Populations, simply labelled Population I, II,
and III respectively. Explain how these stellar populations are related to the age
and metallicity of a star.

2. In this question, we explore the processes behind stellar nucleosynthesis. Heavy

elements are formed in a star’s core/shell by the process of nuclear fusion, where lighter
elements are fused into heavier ones, releasing energy.
a) The proton-proton chain and CNO cycle account for the formation of which ele-
ment? In which types of stars do they provide the main or only source of energy?
b) Explain what is meant by an alpha (α) particle in particle physics. Hence, de-
scribe the triple-alpha process. Which types of stars feature this process, and
which element does it form?
c) Explain the alpha ladder process. In which stars is it a dominant process?
d) What is the heaviest element the alpha ladder process can produce?
(Hint: it is not iron.)
e) Why is the alpha ladder process not able to form elements heavier than your
answer in part (d)?

3. Relativistic redshift is an important phenomenon allowing us to determine informa-

tion about astronomical bodies.
a) Suppose you are standing still on a street while an ambulance with a loud siren
travels towards you at high speed. How does the pitch of the ambulance siren
perceived by you compare to the case when the ambulance is sitting still? What
if the ambulance is going away from you at high speed?
b) Explain the phenomenon you identified in part (a), the Doppler effect.

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 c) Try to adapt your argument for (b) in the context of electromagnetic radiation, i.e.
light. Explain why this argument does not hold.
d) Nevertheless, light experiences a relativistic Doppler effect similar to the Doppler
effect for sound waves. Briefly account for this effect qualitatively, and why it is
fundamentally different from the classical Doppler effect.
e) Consider a star rotating at very high angular speeds and oriented such that some
regions are apparently approaching Earth at different speeds from other regions.
Explain what effect this causes on the spectrum of the star as measured from
Earth, and how this allows us to determine the star’s rotational speed.

4. Light also experiences cosmological redshift.

a) Explain the cause of cosmological redshift, and why it is distinct from relativistic
redshift.
b) Hence, explain qualitatively how observed cosmological redshift is related to the
distance of an astronomical object from Earth.
c) Explain how observed cosmological redshift is related to the age of light ob-
served, that is, the time between emission and detection. It is because of this that
cosmologists often do not speak of observations of the early universe in terms of
years from the big bang, but in terms of redshift values.

5. According to the big bang theory, there were multiple “epochs” shortly after the big
bang where matter and energy in the universe behaved in different ways.
a) Explain what is meant by the recombination epoch, and state when it occurred in
terms of years after the big bang.
b) Explain how the big bang theory therefore explains the abundance of light ele-
ments, the fact that 99% of ordinary matter by mass is hydrogen and helium.
c) By considering the state of matter at this stage of the universe, and given that free-
flowing electrons are able to scatter photons via a process known as Compton
scattering, explain the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR).