A fundamental question in contemporary astrophysics is the origin of the elements. Cosmochemistry seeks to answer when, how and where the chemical elements arose. Quantitative answers to these fundamental questions require a multi-disciplinary approach involving stellar evolution, explosive nucleosynthesis and nuclear reactions in different astrophysical environments. There remain, however, many outstanding problems and cosmochemistry remains a fertile area of research. This book is among the first in recent times to put together the essentials of cosmochemistry, combining contributions from leading astrophysicists in the field. The chapters have been organized to provide a clear description of the fundamentals, an introduction to modern techniques such as computational modelling, and glimpses of outstanding issues.

This book deals with the interdisciplinary areas of nuclear physics, supernovae and neutron star physics. It addresses the physics and astrophysics of the spectacular supernova explosions, starting with the collapse of massive stars and ending with the birth of neutron stars or black holes. Recent progress in the understanding of core collapse supernova (CCSN) and observational aspects of future detections of neutrinos from CCSN explosions are discussed. The other main focus in this text is the novel phases of dense nuclear matter, its compositions and equation of state (EoS) from low to very high baryon density relevant to supernovae and neutron stars. The multi-messenger astrophysics of binary neutron star merger GW170817 and its relation to EoS through tidal deformability are also presented in detail. The synthesis of elements heavier than iron in the supernova and neutron star environment by the rapid (r)-process are treated here with special emphasis on the nucleosynthesis in the ejected material from GW170817. This monograph is written for graduate students and researchers in the field of nuclear astrophysics.

This book introduces in a non-traditional way the laws of physical chemistry and its history starting in the 16th century. It reveals to the reader how physical chemists try to understand chemical processes in terms of physical laws. Hydrogen is the main focus of the book as its simplicity makes the relevant laws of nature easy to explain and its role in energetics in the near future is clear. With the basics at hand, the importance of hydrogen as a raw material in the industry and as an energy carrier in the near future is made clear. Only simple chemical processes are discussed and very little mathematics is used. Both the pleasure and use of this field of research are revealed to the interested reader. The expected readership is made of high school students, non-chemistry major freshmen, and general audience with an interest in chemistry. The real aim of this book is to prompt the reader to wonder.

The Early Earth: Accretion and Differentiation provides a multidisciplinary overview of the state of the art in understanding the formation and primordial evolution of the Earth. The fundamental structure of the Earth as we know it today was inherited from the initial conditions 4.56 billion years ago as a consequence of planetesimal accretion, large impacts among planetary objects, and planetary-scale differentiation. The evolution of the Earth from a molten ball of metal and magma to the tectonically active, dynamic, habitable planet that we know today is unique among the terrestrial planets, and understanding the earliest processes that led to Earth’s current state is the essence of this volume. Important results have emerged from a wide range of disciplines including cosmochemistry, geochemistry, experimental petrology, experimental and theoretical mineral physics and geodynamics. The topics in this volume include: Condensation of primitive objects in the solar nebula, planetary building blocks Early and late accretion and planetary dynamic modeling Primordial differentiation, core formation, Magma Ocean evolution and crystallization This volume will be a valuable resource for graduate students, academics, and researchers in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, cosmochemistry, and planetary science.

Written by leading experts in this area, this is the first book specifically devoted to the astrochemistry of dynamically evolving astronomical regions.

“The Early Evolution of the Atmospheres of Terrestrial Planets” presents the main processes participating in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. A group of experts in the different fields provide an update of our current knowledge on this topic. Several papers in this book discuss the key role of nitrogen in the atmospheric evolution of terrestrial planets. The earliest setting and evolution of planetary atmospheres of terrestrial planets is directly associated with accretion, chemical differentiation, outgassing, stochastic impacts, and extremely high energy fluxes from their host stars. This book provides an overview of the present knowledge of the initial atmospheric composition of the terrestrial planets. Additionally it includes some papers about the current exoplanet discoveries and provides additional clues to our understanding of Earth’s transition from a hot accretionary phase into a habitable world. All papers included were reviewed by experts in their respective fields. We are living in an epoch of important exoplanet discoveries, but current properties of these exoplanets do not match our scientific predictions using standard terrestrial planet models. This book deals with the main physio-chemical signatures and processes that could be useful to better understand the formation of rocky planets.

This concise textbook covers all aspects of the interstellar and intergalactic medium, for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.