A Web of Worlds presents

The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Astrophysics Students

Lachlan Marnoch
www.webofworlds.net

v 1.0
July 28, 2018
Contents

1 Physics 5
1.1 Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.1 Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2 Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.3 Newton’s Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.4 Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5 Centripetal Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.6 Kinetic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.7 Projectile Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.8 Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.9 Euler-Lagrange and the Hamiltonian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Oscillations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.1 Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.1 Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.1 Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.1 Buoyancy (Archimedes’ Principle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5.2 Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6.1 Wavelength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6.2 Angular Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7 Newtonian Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7.1 Force of Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7.2 Gravitational Potential (potential energy per unit mass) . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7.3 Gravitational field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7.4 Gravitational Potential Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7.5 Kepler’s Third Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8 Electromagnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8.1 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8.2 Maxwell’s Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8.3 Lorentz Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8.4 Electric Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8.5 Dipole moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.6 Electric potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.7 Electric potential difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.8 Electric potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.9 Charge densities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.10 Current densities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.8.11 Circuits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.8.12 Capacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.8.13 Magnetic fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.8.14 Inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.8.15 Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.9 Special Relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1
 1.9.1 Interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.9.2 Four-vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.9.3 Frames of Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.9.4 Proper Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.10 General Relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.10.1 Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.10.2 Rindler coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.10.3 Einstein notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.10.4 Christoffel symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.10.5 Covariant derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.10.6 Riemann curvature tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.10.7 Ricci curvature tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.10.8 Einstein’s equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.11 Thermodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.11.1 Ideal Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.11.2 Microstates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.11.3 Entropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.11.4 Black bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12 Quantum Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.1 The Uncertainty Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.2 Bras and Kets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.3 Rules for an Inner Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.4 The Born Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.5 Expectation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.12.6 Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.7 Standard Deviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.8 Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.9 Partial Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.10 The Schrödinger Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.11 Heisenberg equation of motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.12.12 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2 Astrophysics & Astronomy 22

2.1 Astrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.1 Redshift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.2 Apparent magnitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.3 Absolute magnitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.4 Relative magnitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.5 Flux-magnitude relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.6 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.7 Metallicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.1 Stellar Structure Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.2 Timescales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.3 Gravitational potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.4 Eddington Limit (hydrostatic equilibrium) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.5 Mass-Luminosity Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3 Galaxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.1 Hubble Eliptical Galaxy Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.2 Sérsic Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.3.3 Density of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4 Black Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.4.1 Schwarszchild Radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5 Instrumentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.1 Lensmaker’s equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.2 Focal ratio / Focal number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.3 Field of view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.4 Resolution Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

2
 2.5.5 Nyquist sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.6 Plate scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.7 Fitting error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.5.8 Adaptive optics error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5.9 Signal-to-noise ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5.10 Atmospheric Extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5.11 Rocket science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

3 Mathematics 26
3.1 Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2 Algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.1 Factorisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.2 Absolute Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.3 Quadratics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.2.4 Logarithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.5 Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.6 Factorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2.7 Inner product definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.8 Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.9 Power Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.10 Matrix Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
3.2.11 Matrix Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2.12 Change of Basis Unitary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.13 Commutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.14 Anticommutator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.2.15 Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.1 Pythagorean theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.2 Properties of shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.3 Properties of solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3.4 Circular formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.3.5 Useful Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.3.6 Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.3.7 Hyperbolic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.4 Trigonometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.4.1 Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.5 Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5.1 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5.2 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5.3 Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.5.4 Partial Differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.5.5 The Differential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.5.6 Line Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.5.7 Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.5.8 Vector Calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.5.9 Dirac Delta Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.5.10 Approximations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

4 Statistics 45
4.1 Variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.2 Standard Deviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

A Values 46
A.1 Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
A.1.1 Physical Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
A.1.2 Useful Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A.2 Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A.2.1 Useful Quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
A.3 Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

3
B Units of Measurement 49
B.1 Natural Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
B.2 SI System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
B.2.1 Base Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
B.2.2 Derived Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
B.3 CGS (centimetres-grams-seconds) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
B.4 Astronomy units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
B.4.1 Astronomical system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
B.4.2 Equatorial Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.5 United States customary units (aka Imperial Units) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.5.1 Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.6 Degrees of Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.7 Miscellaneous Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.7.1 Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
B.8 Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

C Mathematical Stuff 55
C.1 Trigonometric Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
C.1.1 Pythagorean Triples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

D Boring stuff 56
D.1 Version History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
D.2 Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
D.3 Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
D.4 Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4
Chapter 1

Physics

1.1 Motion
1.1.1 Velocity
∆~x d~x ~
• ~v = = = ẋ
∆t dt

1.1.2 Acceleration
∆~v d~v d2 ~x
• ~a = = = 2 = ~ẍ
∆t dt dt

1.1.3 Newton’s Laws

Newton’s First Law
• When viewed in an inertial reference frame, an object either remains at rest or continues to
move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a net force.

Newton’s Second Law

d~
p
• F~net = m~a =
dt

Newton’s Third Law

• F~A = −F~B
• When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a
force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.

1.1.4 Momentum
• p~ = γm~v ≈ m~v

• p = F~ ∆t
∆~
∆~
p d~
p
• F~ = =
∆t dt

1.1.5 Centripetal Force

mv 2
• Fc =
r

1.1.6 Kinetic Energy

• K = 21 mv 2

5
1.1.7 Projectile Motion
• vy2 = u2y + 2ay ∆y
• x = ux t
Fy 2
• ∆y = uy ∆t + 12 ay ∆t2 = uy t + 1
2 ∆t
m

1.1.8 Rotation
Angular Velocity
dθ
• ω= = θ̇
dt
v
• ω=
r
• ~v = ~r × ω
~

Angular Acceleration
dω d2 θ
• α= = = ω̇ = θ̈
dt dt2

Moment of Inertia
Point Mass
• I = mr2
Several Point Masses
mr2
P
• I=
Continuous mass
´
• I = r2 dm
Parallel axis theorem
• I = Icom + md2
Thin disc rotating about centre
M R2
• I=
2
Thin hoop rotating about centre
• I = M R2
Thin rod rotating about centre
M L2
• I=
12
Thin rod rotating about end
M L2
• I=
3

Rotational Kinetic Energy

• Krot = 12 Iω 2

Total Kinetic Energy

• Ktot = Ktrans + Krot = 12 (mrcom
2
+ Icom )ω 2

6
Angular Momentum
• ~ = I~
L ω = ~r × p~

Torque
dL
• ~τ = I α
~= = ~r × F~
dt

1.1.9 Euler-Lagrange and the Hamiltonian

Lagrangian
P
• `=T −V = a(q)q̇l q̇m
lm

• = K(q̇l ) − U (ql )

Generalised coordinates & momenta

∂L
• pk ≡
∂ q˙k

Euler-Lagrange Equation
d ∂` ∂`
• − =0
dt ∂ ẋ ∂x

Action
t´B
• S[x(t)] = `(ẋ(t), x(t)) dt
tA

Hamiltonian
P
• H= pl q̇ − L
l

∂H
• Ṗ = −
∂Q
∂H
• Q̇ =
∂P
• Ṗ = −ω 2 Q

• Q̇ = P

1.2 Oscillations
1.2.1 Springs
Force of a Spring
• F~ = −ks ~x

Potential Energy of a Spring

1
• Us = ks x2
2

Angular Frequency of a Spring

r
ks
• ω=
m

7
1.3 Materials
1.3.1 Density
m dm
• ρ= =
V dV

1.4 Energy
1.4.1 Work
´b
• W = F~ · d~l ≈ F~ · ~s
a

1.5 Forces
1.5.1 Buoyancy (Archimedes’ Principle)
• Fbuoy = mdisplaced g = ρd Vd g

1.5.2 Friction
• FK ≈ µK F⊥
• FS ≤ µS F⊥

1.6 Waves
• a sin(ωt − kx + φ)
2π
• k= λ

1.6.1 Wavelength
• v = fλ

1.6.2 Angular Frequency

2π
• ω= = 2πf
T

1.7 Newtonian Gravity

1.7.1 Force of Gravity
GmM
• F~G = ~ r) ≈ −mg ŷ = m~g
r̂ = −m∇Φ(~
r2

1.7.2 Gravitational Potential (potential energy per unit mass)

P GM (~ri ) ´ Gµ(r~0 ) 3
• Φ(~r) = − =− d r~0
i |~
r − ~ri | |~r − r~0 |

1.7.3 Gravitational field

GM
• ~g (~r) = = −∇Φ(~r)
r2

1.7.4 Gravitational Potential Energy

GmM
• UG = − ≈ mgh
r

8
1.7.5 Kepler’s Third Law
T2 4π 2
• 3
= = constant
r G(m + M )

1.8 Electromagnetism
1.8.1 Notation
• r
~ = ~r − r~0

1.8.2 Maxwell’s Equations

Integral form Differential form

v t
Gauss’s Law ~ · d~a = 1
E ρ dV ∇ ~ = ρ
~ ·E
S ε0 V ε0
P
Qenc
=
ε0

v
Gauss’s Law for Magnetism ~ · d~a = 0
B ~ ·B
∇ ~ =0
S

¸ s ~
Maxwell-Faraday equation ~ · d~l = − d
E ~ · d~a
B ∇ ~ = − ∂B
~ ×E
b dt S ∂t

¸ s d s ~ ~
Ampére’s circuital law ~ · d~l = µ0
B J~ · d~a + µ0 ε0 E · d~a ∇ ~ = µ0 (J~ + ε0 ∂ E )
~ ×B
b S dt S ∂t

d ´ ~
= µ0 (Ienc + ε0 E · d~a)
dt S

1.8.3 Lorentz Force

On a point charge
• F~ = q(E
~ + ~v × B)
~

On a current
´
• dF~ = I d~l × B
~

• F~ = IL
~ ×B
~

1.8.4 Electric Field

´ ρ(r~0 )
• ~ =
E
V r r̂ dτ
2

From a single point charge

~ = 1 q
• E r̂
4πε0 r2

9
From a dipole

~ a xis| ≈ 2p
• |E
4πε0 r3
~ ⊥| ≈ p
• |E
4πε0 r3

1.8.5 Dipole moment

• p~ = q d~

1.8.6 Electric potential

1 Q
• V =
4πε0 r
−ρ
• ∇2 V =
ε0

In a single-point charge field

1 q
• ∆(~r) =
4πε0 r

1.8.7 Electric potential difference

´~a
• ∆(~r) = − ~ · d~l
E
~b

In a single-point charge field

1 1 1
• ∆(~r) = Q( − )
4πε0 b a

1.8.8 Electric potential energy

1 qQ
• UE = q∆V =
4πε0 r
Energy stored in an electrostatic field distribution
1
• UE = 2 = 0 E 2 × volume

1.8.9 Charge densities

Surface
dq Q
• σ= =
da A

Line
dq Q
• λ= =
dl L

1.8.10 Current densities

Volume
dI~ I
• J~ = = ~ + ~v × B) = |q|nu(E
= σ(E ~ + ~v × B)
d~a⊥ A⊥

• ~ · J~ = 0
∇

10
Surface
~
• ~ = dI = I = σ~v
K
d~l⊥ l

1.8.11 Circuits
Electron drift velocity
• ~ net
v̄ = uE

Current per unit charge

• i = nAcs v̄ = nAcs uEnet

Current
dq
• I = ei = enAcs uEnet =
dt

Electrical Power
• P = IV = I 2 R

Voltage (Electric potential difference)

• V = ∆V = IR = −ε

Electromotive Force (EMF) from a Non-Coulomb force

FN C d
• =
e

Resistance
Lρ L
• R= =
A σA
• Rseries = R1 + R2 + ... + Rn
1 1 1 1
• = + + ... +
Rparallel R1 R2 Rn

1.8.12 Capacitors
Capacitance
Q εA kε0 A
• C= = =
V d d

Energy stored in a capacitor

CV 2
• W =
2

Electric field in a capacitor

Q
• E=
ε0 A

Potential difference across a capacitor

dQ
• ∆V = −
Aε0

11
1.8.13 Magnetic fields

• r
B(~
´ ~
~ ) = µ0 I × r̂
4π r dl
2

~ = µ q~v × r̂ = µ I dl × r̂
0
~ 0
• dB
4π r 2 4π r 2

Magnetic field due to a wire

• ~ = µ0 2I φ̂
B
4π r

Magnetic vector potential

´ ~ ~0
• ~ ) = µ0 J(r ) dτ
r
A(~
4π r
• ~ ×A
∇ ~=B
~

• ~ × (∇
∇ ~ × A)
~ = −µ0 J~

• ~ ·A
∇ ~=0

1.8.14 Inductors
• ε = −LI

Energy stored in an inductor

LI 2
• W =
2

1.8.15 Materials
Macroscopic Maxwell’s Equations (Materials)

Integral form Differential form

v
P~ · d~a = − QB ~ · P~ = −ρB
P
Gauss’s Laws ∇
S
v
~ · d~a = P Qf
D ~ ·D
∇ ~ = ρf
S

v
Gauss’s Law for Magnetism ~ · d~a = 0
B ~ ·B
∇ ~ =0
S

¸ s ~
Maxwell-Faraday equation ~ · d~l = − d
E ~ · d~a
B ∇ ~ = − ∂B
~ ×E
b dt S ∂t
¸ s ~
Ampére’s circuital law ~ · d~l = If,enc + ∂
H ~ · d~a
D ∇ ~ = J~f + ∂ D
~ ×H
b ∂t S ∂t

Dielectric constant
ε
• k= = εr
ε0
• ε = kε0 = εr ε

Susceptibility
• χe = 1 − εr

12
 Polarisability
• P~ = ε0 χe E
~ = n~
p

Bound Charge
Surface
• σB = p~ · n̂
Volume

• ~ · P~
ρ B = −∇
Total
• ~ · P~
QB = σB + ρB = p~ · n̂ − ∇

Electric displacement
• ~ = εE
D ~ = kε0 E
~ = ε0 E
~ + P~

Magnetic field
~
• ~ = B −M
H ~
µ0

Magnetic dipole
• m
~ = I~a

Bound current
• J~B = ∇
~ ×M
~

• ~B = M
K ~ × n̂

1.9 Special Relativity

1.9.1 Interval
• ∆s2 = −c2 ∆t2 + ∆x2 + ∆y 2 + ∆z 2
• ds2 = −c2 dt2 + dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2

• ∆s2 < 0 is a timelike interval. Events separated by this interval can be causally
related.
• ∆s2 = 0 is a lightlike interval. Events separated by this interval can be causally
related, but only by a lightspeed signal.
• ∆s2 > 0 is a spacelike interval. Events separated by this interval CANNOT be causally
related.

Gamma Factor
1
• γ=r
v
1 − ( )2
c
dt
• γ=
dτ

13
Mass-energy
• Erest = mc2
1
• E = γmc2 = r mc2
v
1 − ( )2
c

Relativistic kinetic energy

• K = γmc2 − mc2

Length contraction
r
l0 v
• lv = = l0 1 − ( )2
γ c

Time dilation
t0
• tv = γt0 = r
v
1 − ( )2
c

Mass dilation
m0
• mv = γm0 = r
v
1 − ( )2
c

Relative Velocity
∆x0 ux − vx
• u0x = = v x ux
∆t 1− 2
c

Relativistic Momentum
m~v
• p~ = γ~v = p
1 − (v/c)2

1.9.2 Four-vectors
Four-space
 
ct
x
• s=x=
y


Four-velocity
 
c
ds vx 
• u= =γ 
 vy 
dτ
vz

Four-momentum
   
E/c c
 px  vx 
• p=  py  = γm vy  = mu
  

pz vz

14
1.9.3 Frames of Reference
Condition for an inertial frame
d2 x d2 y d2 z
• 2
= 2 = 2 =0
dt dt dt

Galilean Transformations
• x0 = x + vt
• y0 = y

• z0 = z
• All assuming x is along the axis of motion and x = x’ when t = 0.

Lorentz Boosts
vx
• t0 = γ(t − )
c2
• x0 = γ(x − vt)

• y0 = y
• z0 = z
• (x is along the axis of motion)
 0   
ct γ −vγ 0 0 ct
 x0  −vγ γ 0 0  x
 
•  0 = 
y   0 0 1 0 y

z0 0 0 0 1 z

General Lorentz transformation

 00  
0 b0
 
b γ −vγ 0
b01  −vγ γ 0 0  1
•  02  =   b2 
b   0 0 1 0 b 
b03 0 0 0 1 b3
• Motion along the x-axis.

Proper Time
t´B t´B
r
1 v 2 (t)
• τ= dt = 1− dt
tA γ tA c2

1.9.4 Proper Velocity

ds
• u=
dτ

1.10 General Relativity

1.10.1 Metrics
Minkowski
 
−1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
• η=
0

0 1 0
0 0 0 1

• ds2 = −c2 dt2 + dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2

15
Schwarzschild
 
2GM
−(1 − c2 r ) 0 0 0 
 2GM −1 
• g=
 0 (1 − 2 ) 0 0 
c r

r2
 
 0 0 0 
0 0 0 r sin2 θ
2

2GM 2 2 2GM
• ds2 = −(1 − 2
)c dt + (1 − 2 )−1 dr2 + r2 dθ2 + r2 sin2 θ dφ2 )
c r c r

1.10.2 Rindler coordinates

Line element
gx0 2
• ds2 = −(1 + ) (c dt0 )2 + dx0
c2

1.10.3 Einstein notation

• Contravariant: eα
• Covariant: eα
• tαβ = gβγ tα γ
• tα β = g βγ tαγ

∂x0α ∂xδ γ
• t0α β = t δ
∂xγ ∂x0β
∂xγ ∂x0β δ
• t0α β = tγ
∂x0α ∂xδ

Metrics
• ds2 = gαβ dxα dxβ
1
• g αβ =
gαβ
(
α 1 α=β
• δβ =
1 α 6= β

• δγα aγ = aα
• g αγ gγβ = δβα

Four-vector product
• a · b = gαβ aα bβ = aβ bα

1.10.4 Christoffel symbols

∂gδβ ∂gδγ ∂gβγ
• Γα βγ = 12 g αδ ( + − )
∂xγ ∂xβ ∂xδ
∂gδβ ∂gδγ ∂gβγ
• Γαβγ = 12 ( + − )
∂xγ ∂xβ ∂xδ
d2 xµ dxα dxβ
• + Γµ αβ =0
dτ dτ dτ

16
1.10.5 Covariant derivatives
∂tα β
• ∇γ tα β = + Γα γδ tδ β − Γδ γβ tα δ
∂xγ
∂tαβ
• ∇γ tαβ = + Γα γδ tδβ + Γβ γδ tαδ
∂xγ
∂tαβ
• ∇γ tαβ = − Γδ γα tδβ − Γδ γβ tαδ
∂xγ
∂tα β
• ∇γ tα β = − Γδ γα tδ β + Γβ γδ tα δ
∂xγ

1.10.6 Riemann curvature tensor

∂Γα βδ ∂Γα βγ
• Rα βγδ = γ
− + Γα γ Γ βδ − Γα δ Γ βγ
∂x ∂xδ
∂ 2 gαδ ∂ 2 gαγ ∂ 2 gβδ ∂ 2 gβγ
• Rαβγδ = 12 ( − − ) +
∂xβ ∂xγ ∂xβ ∂xδ ∂xα ∂xγ ∂xα ∂xδ
• Rαβγδ = −Rβαγδ
• Rαβγδ = −Rβαδγ
• Rαβγδ = Rδγαβ

• Rαβγδ + Rαδβγ + Rαγδβ=0

1.10.7 Ricci curvature tensor

• Rαβ = Rγ αγβ

• R = Rα α

1.10.8 Einstein’s equations

8πG
• Rµν − 12 gµν R + Λgµν = Tµν
c4

1.11 Thermodynamics
1.11.1 Ideal Gases
Ideal Gas Law
• pV = N kB T

Heat / Thermal Energy

• Q = mc∆T

Heat Capacity
dQ
• C=
dT

Specific Heat Capacity

C
• c=
m

1.11.2 Microstates
(q + N − 1)
• Ω=
q!(N − 1)

17
1.11.3 Entropy
• S = kB ln Ω

1.11.4 Black bodies

Energy of a photon
• E = hf

Wien’s Displacement Law

b 1
• λmax = = (2.8977729 × 10−3 )
T T

Stefan-Boltzmann Law
• I = σT 4

Spectrum
2hc2 1
• Bλ (T ) =
λ5 hc
exp( − 1)
λkB T
2hν 1
• Bν (T ) =
c2 hν
exp( )−1
kB T

1.12 Quantum Mechanics

1.12.1 The Uncertainty Principle
h̄
• ∆x∆p ≥
2
h̄
• ∆E∆t ≥
2

1.12.2 Bras and Kets

†
• |ψi = hψ|

1.12.3 Rules for an Inner Product

• hψ|φi ≡ (|ψi, |φi)
• Symmetric:
∗
hψ|φi = hφ|ψi
• Linear in second component

• Anti-linear in first component

1.12.4 The Born Rule

• P = |hψ|ψi|2

1.12.5 Expectation
´
• hAi = A|Ψ(x, t)|2 dx

• hAi = hψ|A|ψi

18
1.12.6 Variance
2
• var(A) = hψ|A2 |ψi − hψ|A|ψi

1.12.7 Standard Deviation

q
2
p
• δA = var(A) = hψ|A2 |ψi − hψ|A|ψi

1.12.8 Trace
P
• Tr(A) = hxj |A|xj i
j

1.12.9 Partial Trace

• T rB (|aiha| ⊗ |bihb|) ≡ |aiha|Tr(|bihb|)

• Tr(kAB ) = T rA (T rB (kAB )) = T rB (T rA (kAB ))

• ρB = T rA (ρAB )
• The partial trace is linear

1.12.10 The Schrödinger Equation

∂
• ih̄ Ψ(r, t) = ĤΨ(r, t)
∂t
h̄2 ∂ 2 Ψ(x, t) ∂Ψ(x, t)
• − + V (x)Ψ(x, t) = ih̄
2m ∂x2 ∂t
h̄2 ∂ 2 ψ(x)
• − + V (x)ψ(x, t) = Eψ(x)
2m ∂x2
∂
• Ĥ|Ψ(t)i = ih̄ |Ψ(t)i
∂t

1.12.11 Heisenberg equation of motion

d i
• Â(t) = [Ĥ, Â(t)]
dt h̄

1.12.12 Operators
• ajk = hj|A|ki

Diagonalizable Operator
P
• A = λj |λj ihλj |
j

Normal Operator
P
• A = |λj ihλj |
j

Eigenstate Operators
• (|λk ihλk |)n = |λk ihλk |

Identity
P
• I= |xj ihxj |
j

19
Projector
• P = |ψihψ|

Density operator
P
• ρ ≡ Pj |ψj ihψj |
j

• Hermitian: ρ† = ρ
• Normalised: Tr(ρ) = 1
• Positive Semi-Definite: hψ|ρ|ψi ≥ 0, ∀ |ψi ∈ H
• purity = Tr(ρ2 )
1
– ≤ Tr(ρ2 ) ≤ 1
d
– Pure: Tr(ρ2 ) = 1
1
– Maximally mixed: Tr(ρ2 ) =
d
• ρA = T rB (ρAB )
• hAi = Tr(ρA)

Pauli Operators
 
. 0 1
• σx = X = |0ih1| + |1ih0| =
1 0
 
. 0 −i
• σy = Y = i|1ih0| − i|0ih1| =
i 0
 
. 1 0
• σz = Z = |0ih0| − |1ih1| =
0 −1
 
. 1 0
• I = |0ih0| + |1ih1| = (Sometimes included)
0 1

• T rx = Tr(Y ) = Tr(Z) = 0

• With respect to Hilbert-Schmidt Inner Product:

√
||X|| = ||Y || = ||Z|| = ||I|| = 2

Properties
• Unitary
• Hermitian

• λ = ±1

Photon Annihilation and Creation Operators

√
• â|ni = n|n − 1i
√
• ↠|ni = n + 1|n + 1i
• â|αi = α|αi

• hα|↠= α∗ hα|

20
Atomic Energy Level Operators (for a two-level approximation)
• σ̂+ = |eihg|
• σ̂− = |gihe|
• σ̂z = |eihe| − |gihg|
• σ̂+ |gi = |ei

• σ̂− |ei = |gi

• σ̂+ |ei = 0
• σ̂− |gi = 0

21
Chapter 2

Astrophysics & Astronomy

2.1 Astrometry
2.1.1 Redshift
λobs − λemit v
• ≈
λemit c
λobs
• 1+z =
λemit

2.1.2 Apparent magnitude

F
• m − m0 = −2.5 log10 ( )
F0

2.1.3 Absolute magnitude

d
• M = m − 5 log10 ( )
10

2.1.4 Relative magnitudes

(mb − ma )
Ia
• = 100 5
Ib

2.1.5 Flux-magnitude relationship

• F = F0 × 10−0.4m

2.1.6 Color
Ff 1
• −2.5 log( )
Ff 2

2.1.7 Metallicity
(F e/H)∗
• Z = log10 ( ) = log10 (F e/H)∗ − log10 (F e/H)
(F e/H)

2.2 Stars
2.2.1 Stellar Structure Equations
Hydrostatic Equilibrium
dP −GMr ρ(r)
• =
dr r2

22
Mass Conservation
Mr
• = 4πr2 ρ
r

Energy Equation
dLr
• = 4πr2 ρε
dr

Radiative Transport
dT 3 κρ¯ Lr
• |rad =
dr 4ac T 3 4πr2

2.2.2 Timescales
Thermal / Kelvin-Helmholtz Timescale
|U∗ | GM∗2
• τKH = =
L∗ R∗ L∗
• τKH ≈ 50millionyears

Nuclear Timescale / Main Sequence Lifespan

M −3
• τN ≈ τ M −3 ≈ 109 ( )
M

2.2.3 Gravitational potential energy

−GM 2
• U∗ ≈
R

2.2.4 Eddington Limit (hydrostatic equilibrium)

4πGM mp c M
• Ledd = ≈ 3.2 × 104 ( ) [L ]
σT M
L
• Medd = 3.1 ∗ 10−5 ( ) [M ]
L

Eddington Rate (mass loss)

Ledd M
• Ṁedd = ≈ 2.4 × 10−8 ( ) [M /yr]
ηc2 M

2.2.5 Mass-Luminosity Relationship



 2.3, 0.23 M < 0.43M

4, 1
L M a 0.43M < M < 2M
• ≈ b( ) ; a, b =
L M 
 3.5, 1.5 2M < M < 20M

1, 32000 M > 55M


2.3 Galaxies
2.3.1 Hubble Eliptical Galaxy Classification
a−b
• 10 × ( )
a

2.3.2 Sérsic Profile

R 1
• I(R) = I0 exp{−b[( ) n − 1]}
Re

23
2.3.3 Density of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
• ρ(R, z) = ρ0 e−z/z0 e−R/h

2.4 Black Holes

2.4.1 Schwarszchild Radius
2GM
• rS =
c2

2.5 Instrumentation
2.5.1 Lensmaker’s equation
1 1 1 (n − 1)d
• = (n − 1)[ − + ]
f R1 R2 nR1 R2
1 1
≈ (n − 1)[ − ] (Thin lens approximation)
R1 R2

2.5.2 Focal ratio / Focal number

f
• N=
D

2.5.3 Field of view

wD wD
• F OV = =
DT N fsys

2.5.4 Resolution Limits

Diffraction limit (Rayleigh criterion)
λ
• εd = 1.22
D

Seeing limit (Rayleigh criterion)

λ
• εs = 0.98
r0

Total Resolution limit

p
• ε ε2d + ε2s

2.5.5 Nyquist sampling

2p λ
• = (When diffraction limited)
fsys DT
2p
• N=
λ

2.5.6 Plate scale

1 206265
• [rad/m] = [arcsec/m]
f f

2.5.7 Fitting error

dsub 5 dsub 5
• σf2 it = af ( ) 3 = 0.26( )3
r0 r0

24
2.5.8 Adaptive optics error
dsub 5 θ 5 τ 5 λ
• σt otal2 = 0.3( ) 3 + ( ) 3 + 28.4( ) 3 + CW F S ( )2
r0 θ0 τ0 F τ dsub

2.5.9 Signal-to-noise ratio

Ft
• SN R = p
F t + (Bs np t) + (Dnp t) + (R2 np )

2.5.10 Atmospheric Extinction

• mλ = mλ,z − aλ (sec z)

2.5.11 Rocket science

Tsiolkovsky rockey equation
m0
• ∆v = ve ln( )
mf

25
Chapter 3

Mathematics

3.1 Notation
• [f (x)]ab = f (a) − f (b)

3.2 Algebra
3.2.1 Factorisation
• (a + b)2 = a2 + b2 + 2ab2
• (a − b)2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab2
• a2 − b2 = (a + b)(a − b)
• (a + b)(a + c) = a2 + (b + c)a + bc
• (a + b)3 = a3 + 3ab2 + 3a2 b + b3
• (a − b)3 = a3 + 3ab2 − 3a2 b − b3
• a3 + b3 = (a + b)(a2 − ab + b2 )
• a3 − b3 = (a − b)(a2 + ab + b2 )
• a2n − b2n = (an − bn )(an + bn )

3.2.2 Absolute Value

• |ab| = |a||b|
a |a|
• | |=
b |b|
• |a + b| ≤ |a| + |b|

3.2.3 Quadratics
Quadratic Formula
For ax2 + bx + c = 0, a 6= 0:
√
−b ± b2 − 4ac
• x=
2a
• b2 − 4ac > 0 - two real unequal solutions.
• b2 − 4ac = 0 - repeated real solution.
• b2 − 4ac < 0 - two complex solutions.

26
3.2.4 Logarithms
• y = logb (x); x = by
• logb (xy) = logb x + logb (y)
x
• logb ( ) = logb x − logb (y)
y
• logb (xp ) = p logb x
• logb (bx ) = x
logd (a)
• logb (a) =
logd (b)

√
• logb ( p x) = log

• p logb x + q logb (y) = log(xp y q )

• blogb x = x
• logb (b) = 1
• logb (1) = 0

3.2.5 Vectors
Dot Product
• ~a · ~b = a1 b1 + a2 b2 + a3 b3 + . . . + an bn = ab cos θ

Cross Product
 
 î ĵ k̂ 
~

• ~a × b = a1 a2 a3  = (a2 b3 − a3 b2 )î + (a3 b1 − a1 b3 )ĵ + (a1 b2 − a2 b1 )k̂ = ab sin θn̂
 b1 b2 b3 

• ~a × ~b = −~b × ~a
• ~a × (~b + ~c) = ~a × ~b + ~a × ~c

• ~a × ~b = 0

3.2.6 Factorials
• n! = n(n − 1)(n − 2)...(2)(1)
• (n + 1)! = (n + 1)n!

Stirling’s approximation
• n! ≈ n ln(n) − n + O(ln(n))

The Factorial Integral

´∞
• xn e−x dx
0

27
3.2.7 Inner product definition
1. Linear in first variable:
(αa + βb, c) = α(a, c) + β(b, c)
2. Positive-definite:
(a, a) ≥ 0, (a, a) = 0 ⇐⇒ a = 0

3. Conjugate symmetrical:
(a, b) = (b, a)∗
(a, b) = (b, a), b, a ∈ R

3.2.8 Complex Numbers

• z = a + ib = <(z) + =(z)i

Euler’s Formula
• eiθ = cos θ + i sin θ
• reiθ = |z|eiθ = r(cos θ + i sin θ)

De Moivre’s Formula
• (cos x + i sin x)n = cos(nx) + i sin(nx)

Complex Modulus
√ p
• r = |z| = |a + ib| = a2 + b2 = <2 (z) + =2 (z)

Complex Conjugate
• ¯ ib) = a − ib
z̄ = (a +
• ¯ ib)(a + ib) = |a + ib|2
(a +

Complex Argument
a =(z)
• θ = arg(z) = arctan( ) = arctan( )
b <(z)

3.2.9 Power Series

∞
fn xn
P
• f (x) =
n=0

Notable Series
∞ xn x2 x3 x4 x5
ex =
P
• =1+x+ + + + + ...
n=0 n! 2 6 24 120
∞
P (−1)n 2n+1 x3 x5
• sin x = x =x− + − ...
n=0 (2n + 1)! 3! 5!
∞ (−1)n x2 x4
x2n = 1 −
P
• cos x = + − ...
n=0 (2n)! 2! 4!

3.2.10 Matrix Operations

Determinant
 
a b 
•  c d = ad − bc
 

28
Transpose
• aTjk = akj

• (AB)T = B T AT

• Linear: (A + B)T = AT + B T
• (rA)T = rAT

Hermitian Adjoint
• A† ≡ (A∗ )T = (AT )∗
• (AB)† = B † A†

• (A + B)† = A† + B †

Trace
n
P
• Tr(A) = ajj
j

• Cyclic: Tr(AB) = Tr(AB)

• Linear: Tr(A + B) = Tr(A) + Tr(B)
Tr(aB) = aTr(B), a ∈ C

• Tr(SAS −1 ) = Tr(A)

Hilbert-Schmidt Inner Product

• (A, B) ≡ Tr(A† B)

Rank-Nullity Theorem
• rk(A) = dim(ker(A)) + dim(im(A))

3.2.11 Matrix Types

Real Matrix
• ajk ∈ R

Square Matrix
• m=n

Symmetric Matrix
• A = AT
• ajk = akj

• Square

Normal Matrix
• A† A = AA†
• Square
• Diagonalisable

29
Diagonal Matrix
• ajk = 0, j 6= k
• λj = ajj
• Square
 d 
e 11 0 ··· 0
• eD =
0 ed11 ··· 0

Diagonalisable Matrix
• A = P DP −1

• Square

Identity Matrix
• IA = A
• ijj = 1

• ijk = 0, j 6= k
• Real
• Square
• Diagonal

• Symmetric
• Hermitian

Hermitian Matrix
• H = H†
• hjk = h∗kj

• hjj ∈ R
• λ∈R
• Square

• Normal
• All real, square matrices are Hermitian

Anti-Hermitian Matrix
• H = −H †
∗
• Hjk = −Hkj

• Square

Orthogonal Matrix
• AT = A−1
• AAT = I

• (AAT )jk = δjk

30
Positive Semidefinite
• A≥0
• † = Â,  ≥ 0

• B = †  is positive semidefinite for any linear operator Â

• Positive semidefinite matrices are Hermitian

Projector
• Pˆ2 = P̂
• λ = 1 or 0

• P1 P2 7→ H1 ∩ H2
• Projectors are Hermitian

Real Matrix
• A = A∗
• Ajk = A∗jk

Imaginary Matrix
• A = −A∗
• Ajk = −A∗jk

Symmetric Matrix
• A = AT

• Ajk = Akj
• Square

Antisymmetric Matrix
• A = −AT
• ajk = akj

• ajj = 0
• Square

Unitary Matrix
• U †U = U U † = I

• U † = U −1
• (U † U )jk = δjk
• Square
• Normal

• Hermitian

31
 3.2.12 Change of Basis Unitary
• Basis a is (?)
• (V )b = [U † ]a (V )a
• [U ]a = [(b0 )a (b1 )a ...(bn )a ]

3.2.13 Commutator
• [A, B] = AB − BA
• [A, A] = 0

• [A + B, C] = [A, C] + [B, C]
• [A, BC] = [A, B]C + B[A, C]

3.2.14 Anticommutator
• {A, B} = AB + BA

3.2.15 Cauchy-Schwarz Inequality

• |h~u, ~v i|2 ≤ h~u, ~ui · h~v , ~v i

3.3 Geometry
3.3.1 Pythagorean theorem
• a2 + b2 = c2
√
• a = b2 + c2

Higher dimensions
p
• r = x2 + y 2 + z 2
p √
• r = x21 + x22 + · · · + x2n = ~r · ~r

Distance between two points

In two dimensions
p
• d12 = (x2 − x1 )2 + (y2 − y1 )2
In higher dimensions
p
• dab = (b1 − a1 )2 + (b2 − a2 )2 + · · · + (bn − an )2

3.3.2 Properties of shapes

Area Circumference
Circle πR2 2πR
Square L2 4L

3.3.3 Properties of solids

Surface Area Volume
4
Sphere 4πR2 3 πR
3

32
3.3.4 Circular formulae
Arc length
• l = Rθ

Area of a sector
R2 θ
• A=
2

Area of a segment
R2
• A= (θ − sin θ)
2

3.3.5 Useful Functions

Parabola
• f (x) = a(x − h)2 + k
• Vertex at (h, k)
• Up-concave if a > 0; down-concave if a < 0

• f (x) = ax2 + bx + c
b b
• Vertex at (− , f (− ))
2a 2a
• Up-concave if a > 0; down-concave if a < 0

Hyperbola
x−h 2 y−k 2
• ( ) −( ) =1
a b
• Centre at (h, k)
b
• Asymptotes through centre, slope ±
a

Circle
• (x − h)2 + (y − k)2 = R2

• Centre at (h, k)

Ellipse
x−h 2 y−k 2
• 1=( ) +( )
a b
• Centre at (h, k)
• Vertices a units right/left from the centre and vertices b units up/down from the
center.

Sphere
• R2 = (x − h)2 + (y − k)2 + (z − l)2

• Centre at (h, k, l):

33
Ball
• R2 < (x − h)2 + (y − k)2 + (z − l)2
• Centre at (h, k, l):

3.3.6 Coordinates
Transformations to Cartesian coordinates

Cartesian x=x y=y z=z dV = dx dy dz

Polar (2D) x = r cos φ y = r sin φ N/A dA = r drdφ

Cylindrical x = r cos φ y = r sin φ z=z dV = r dr dθ dz

Spherical x = r sin θ cos φ y = r sin θ sin φ z = r cos θ dV = r2 sin θ dr dθ dφ

Transformations from Cartesian coordinates

Cartesian x=x y=y z=z

p y
Polar (2D) r= x2 + y 2 φ0 = arctan | | (φ depends on quadrant) N/A
x
p y
Cylindrical r= x2 + y 2 φ0 = arctan | | (φ depends on quadrant) z=z
x
p y z
Spherical r= x2 + y 2 + z 2 φ0 = arctan | | (φ depends on quadrant) θ = arccos( p )
x x2 + y2 + z2

3.3.7 Hyperbolic Functions

Hyberbolic Sine
ex − e−x e2x − 1 1 − e−2x
• sinh x = = =
2 2e x 2e−x
• sinh x = −i sin(ix)

Hyperbolic Cosine
ex + e−x e2x + 1 1 + e−2x
• cosh x = = =
2 2ex 2e−x
• cosh x = cos(ix)

Hyperbolic Tangent
sinh x ex − e−x e2x − 1 1 − e−2x
• tanh x = = x = =
cosh x e + e−x e2x + 1 1 + e−2x
• tanh x = −i tan(ix)

Hyperbolic Cotangent
1 cosh x ex + e−x e2x + 1 1 + e−2x
• coth x = = = x = =
tanh x sinh x e − e−x e2x − 1 1 − e−2x
• coth x = i cot(ix)

34
Hyperbolic Secant
1 2 2ex 2e−x
• sechx = = x −x
= 2x =
cosh x e +e e +1 1 + e−2x
• sechx = sec(ix)

Hyperbolic Cosecant
1 2 2ex 2e−x
• cschx = = x = =
sinh x e − e−x e2x − 1 1 − e−2x
• cschx = i csc(ix)

Identities
• cosh2 x − sinh2 x = 1
1
• sin θ cos θ = 2 sin(2θ)

3.4 Trigonometry
Definitions
• SOH CAH TOA
opposite
• sin θ =
hypotenuse
adjacent
• cos θ =
hypotenuse
opposite sin θ
• tan θ = =
adjacent cos θ
adjacent cos θ
• cot θ = =
opposite sin θ
hypotenuse
• sec θ =
adjacent
hypotenuse
• csc θ =
opposite

3.4.1 Identities
Pythagorean Identities
• cos2 θ + sin2 θ = 1
• tan2 θ + 1 sec2 θ

• 1 + cot2 θ = csc2 θ

Reciprocals
1
• sin θ =
csc θ
1
• cos θ =
sec θ
1
• tan θ =
cot θ
1
• cot θ =
tan θ

35
 1
• sec θ =
cos θ
1
• csc θ =
sin θ

As complex exponentials
eix − e−ix
• sin θ =
2i
eix + e−ix
• cos θ =
2
eix − e−ix
• tan θ =
i(eix + e−ix )
i(eix + e−ix )
• cot θ =
eix − e−ix
2
• sec θ =
eix + e−ix
2i
• csc θ =
eix − e−ix

Symmetries
• sin(−θ) = − sin θ
• cos(−θ) = cos θ
• tan(−θ) = − tan θ
• csc(−θ) = − csc θ
• sec(−θ) = sec θ
• cot(−θ) = − cot θ

π
• sin( − θ) = cos θ
2
π
• cos( − θ) = sin θ
2
π
• tan( − θ) = cot θ
2
π
• csc( − θ) = sec θ
2
π
• sec( − θ) = csc θ
2
π
• cot( − θ) = tan θ
2

• sin(π − θ) = sin θ
• cos(π − θ) = − cos θ
• tan(π − θ) = − tan θ
• csc(π − θ) = csc θ
• sec(π − θ) = − sec θ
• cot(π − θ) = − cot θ

36
Angle sum and difference formulae
• sin(α ± β) = sin α cos β ± cos α sin β
• cos(α ± β) = cos α cos β ∓ sin α sin β
tan α ± tan β
• tan(α ± β) =
1 ∓ tan α tan β

Half-angle formulae
θ 1 − cos θ
• sin2 ( ) =
2 2
θ 1 + cos θ
• cos2 ( ) =
2 2
θ 1 − cos θ
• tan2 ( ) =
2 1 + cos θ
θ tan θ sin θ 1 − cos θ
• tan( ) = = = = csc θ − cot θ
2 1 + sec θ 1 + cos θ sin θ

Double-angle formulae
• cos(2θ) = 2 cos2 θ − 1 = 1 − 2 sin2 θ = cos2 θ − sin2 θ
• sin(2θ) = 2 sin θ cos θ
2 tan θ
• tan(2θ) =
1 − tan2 θ

Sum to Product
α+β
• sin α + sin β = 2 sin( ) cos( α−β
2 )
2
α+β
• sin α − sin β = 2 cos( ) sin( α−β
2 )
2
α+β
• cos α + cos β = 2 cos( ) cos( α−β
2 )
2
α+β
• cos α − cos β = −2 sin( ) sin( α−β
2 )
2

Product to Sum
• sin α sin β = 21 [cos(α − β) − cos(α + β)]
• cos α cos β = 21 [cos(α − β) + cos(α + β)]

• sin α cos β = 12 [sin(α + β) + cos(α − β)]

• cos α sin β = 12 [sin(α + β) − sin(α − β)]

Law of Sines
sin α sin β sin γ
• = =
a b c

Law of Cosines
• a2 = b2 + c2 − 2bc cos α

• b2 = a2 + c2 − 2ac cos β
• c2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab cos γ

37
Law of Tangents
a−b tan( 12 [α − β])
• =
a+b tan( 21 [α + β])

b−c tan( 12 [β − γ])

• =
b+c tan( 12 [β + γ])

a−c tan( 12 [α − γ])

• =
a+c tan( 12 [α + γ])

Mollweide’s Formula
a+b cos( 12 [α − β])
• =
c sin( 12 γ)

Small-angle approximations
• sin θ ≈ θ
θ2
• cos θ ≈ 1 −
2
• tan θ ≈ θ

Other identities
1
• sin θ cos θ = 2 sin(2θ)
• cos2 θ = 12 (cos(2θ) + 1)

Averages
• sin¯ x = cos
¯x=0

• sin¯2 x = cos¯2 x = 1
2

Table of Identities

In terms of... sin θ cos θ tan θ sec θ cot θ csc θ

√
√ tan θ sec2 θ − 1 1 1
sin θ = sin θ ± 1 − cos2 θ ±√ 2
± ±√ 2
1 + tan θ sec θ 1 + cot θ csc
√
p 1 1 cot θ csc2 −1
cos θ = ± 1 − sin2 θ cos θ ±√ 2
±√ 2
±
1 + tan θ sec θ 1 + cot θ csc θ
√
sin θ 1 − cos2 θ √ 1 1
tan θ = ±p ± tan θ ± sec2 θ − 1 ±√
1 − sin θ 2 cos θ cot θ csc2 θ − 1
√
1 1 √ 1 + cot2 θ csc θ
sec θ = ±p ± 1 + tan2 θ sec θ ± ±√
1 − sin2 θ cos θ cot θ csc2 −1
p
1 − sin2 θ cos θ 1 1 √
cot θ = ± ± √ ±√ cot θ ± csc2 θ − 1
sin θ ± 1 − cos2 θ tan θ sec2θ−1
√
1 1 1 + tan2 θ sec θ √
csc θ = ±√ ± ±√ ± 1 + cot2 θ csc
sin θ 1 − cos2 θ tan θ sec2 θ − 1

38
3.5 Calculus
3.5.1 Limits
3.5.2 Properties
• lim cf (x) = c lim f (x)
x→a x→a

• lim [f (x) ± g(x)] = lim f (x) ± lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

• lim [f (x)g(x)] = lim f (x) lim g(x)

x→a x→a x→a

f (x) lim f (x)

• lim = x→a , lim g(x) 6= 0
x→a g(x) lim g(x) x→a
x→a

• lim [f (x)]n = [ lim f (x)]n

x→a x→a

Useful Limits
• lim ex = ∞
x→∞

• lim ex = 0
x→−∞

• lim ln(x) = ∞
x→∞

• lim ln(x) = −∞
x→0−

• lim x log x = 0
x→0

L’Hôpital’s rule
f (x) f 0 (x)
• lim = lim 0
x→a g(x) x→a g (x)

Squeeze principle
• For g(x) ≤ f (x) ≤ h(x) and lim g(x) = lim h(x) = L:
x→a x→a
lim f (x) = L
x→a

3.5.3 Differentiation
First Principles
d f (x + h) − f (x)
• f (x) = lim
dx h→0 h

Nature of derivatives

Derivative Function
f 0x > 0 Increasing
0
f x=0 Stationary
f 0x < 0 Decreasing
Second Derivative Function Stationary Points [f 0 x = 0]
f 00 x > 0 Concave up Local Minimum
f 0x = 0 No information Inflection Point
f 00 x < 0 Concave down Local Maximum

39
Product Rule
• (uv)0 = uv 0 + vu0
d
• f (x)gx = f (x)g 0 (x) + f 0 (x)g(x)
dx

Quotient Rule
u vu0 − uv 0
• ( )0 =
v v2
d f (x) g(x)f 0 (x) − f (x)g 0 (x)
• =
dx g(x) g(x)2

Chain Rule
dy dy du
• =
dx du dx
d
• f (g(x)) = f 0 (g(x))g 0 (x)
dx

Useful Derivatives
d n
• x = nxn−1
dx
d x
• a = ax ln(a)
dx
d x
• e = ex
dx
d 1
• ln x = , x > 0
dx x
d 1
• ln |x| = , x 6= 0
dx x
d f 0x
• ln(f (x)) =
dx f (x)
d 1
• logb x = , x>0
dx x ln(b)
d
• sin x = cos x
dx
d
• cos x = − sin x
dx
d
• tan x = sec2 x
dx
d
• sec x = sec x tan x
dx
d
• csc x = − csc x cot x
dx
d
• cot x = − csc2 x
dx
d 1
• sin−1 x = √
dx 1 − x2
d 1
• cos−1 x = √
dx − 1 − x2
d 1
• tan−1 x = √
dx − 1 + x2

40
3.5.4 Partial Differentiation
First Principles
∂ f (x + h, y) − f (x, y)
• f (x, y) = lim
∂x h→0 h

Jacobian Matrix
 
 ∂f1 (~a) ∂f1
(~a) ···
∂f1
(~a) 
 ∂x ∂x2 ∂xn 
 1 
 
 ∂f2 ∂f2 ∂f2 
 ∂x (~a)
 (~a) ··· (~a) 
• ~
Df (~a) =  1 ∂x2 ∂xn 

 
 .. .. .. .. 

 . . . . 

 
 
 ∂fm ∂fm ∂fm 
(~a) (~a) · · · (~a)
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂xn

Definition of differentiability of a multivariable function

||f (~x) − f (~a) − Df (~a) · (~x − ~a)||
• lim = =0
x→~
~ a ||~x − ~a||

3.5.5 The Differential

∂F ∂F ∂F
• dF = dx + dy + dz
∂x ∂y ∂z

3.5.6 Line Element

• dS 2 = dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2

3.5.7 Integration
Properties
´ ´ ´
• f (x) ± g(x) dx = ( f (x) dx ±g(x) dx
´a
• f (x) dx = 0
a

´b ´a
• f (x) dx = − f (x) dx
a b

´b ´b
• | f (x) dx| ≤ |f (x)| dx
a a

´b ´a
• If f (x) ≥ g(x) over [a, b], f (x) dx ≥ g(x) dx
a b

´b
• If f (x) ≥ 0 over [a, b], f (x) dx > 0
a

´b
• If m ≤ f (x) ≤ M over [a, b], m(b − a) ≤ f (x) dx ≤ M (b − a)
a

41
Integration by Parts
´ 0 ´
• u v = uv − uv 0
´ 0 ´
• f (x)g(x) dx = f (x)g(x) − f (x)g 0 (x) dx
´b ´b
• f 0 (x)g(x) dx = [f (x)g(x)]ba − f (x)g 0 (x) dx
a a

Integration by Substitution
´b ´
g(b)
• u = g(x); dx = g 0 (x) dx; f (g(x))g 0 (x) dx = f (x) dx
a g(a)

Approximations
Trapezoid rule
´b ∆x
• f (x) dx ≈ [f (x0 ) + 2f (x1 ) + 2f (x2 ) + · · · + 2f (xn−1 ) + f (xn )]
a 2
Simpson’s rule
´b ∆x
• f (x) dx ≈ [f (x0 ) + 4f (x1 ) + 2f (x2 ) + · · · + 2f (xn−2 ) + 4f (xn−1 ) + f (xn )]
a 3

Useful Indefinite Integrals

´
• k dx = kx + C
´ 1
• logb x dx = x(logb x − logb (e)) + C = x(logb x − )+C
ln b
´
• ln x dx = x(ln x − 1) + C
´
• ex dx = ex + C
´ xn+1
• xn dx = + C, n 6= −1
n+1
´ 1
• dx = ln |x| + C
x
´ 1 1
• dx = ln |ax + b| + C
ax + b a
´
• sin x dx = − cos x + C
´
• cos x dx = sin x + C
´
• tan x dx = ln | sec x| + C
´
• sec x dx = ln | sec x + tan x| + C
´
• sec2 x dx = tan x + C
´
• csc2 x dx = − cot x + C
´
• sec x tan x dx = sec x + C
´
• csc x cot x dx = − csc x + C
´ 1 1 x
• dx = tan−1 ( ) + C
a2 +x 2 a a
´ 1 x
• √ dx = sin−1 ( ) + C
a2 + x2 a

42
Useful Definite Integrals
´∞ x3 π4
• dx =
0 ex −1 15
´∞ n!
• xn e−ax dx =
0 an+1

3.5.8 Vector Calculus

Vector derivative

∂f
 
 ∂x 
 
  ∂f ∂f ∂f
 ∂f  =
~ =
• grad(f ) = ∇f x̂ + ŷ + ẑ

 ∂y  ∂x ∂y ∂z
 
 
 ∂f 
∂z
´b
• ~ ) · d~l = f (a) − f (b)
(∇f
a

The Laplacian
∂2f ∂2f ∂2f
• δf = ∇2 f = + +
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2

Divergence
In Cartesian Coordinates

• ~ · f~ = ∂fx + ∂fy + ∂fz

div(f ) = ∇
∂x ∂y ∂z
In Cylindrical Coordinates

• ~ · f~ = 1 ∂ (rfr ) + 1 ∂fφ + ∂fz

∇
r ∂r r ∂φ ∂z
In Spherical Coordinates

• ~ · f~ = 1 ∂ (r2 fr ) + 1
∇
∂
(fθ sin θ) +
1 ∂fφ
r ∂r r sin θ ∂θ r sin θ ∂φ

Curl
In Cartesian Coordinates
 
 x̂ ŷ ẑ 

 ∂ ∂ ∂  ∂fz ∂fy ∂fx ∂fz ∂fy ∂fx
• ~ ~
curl(f ) = ∇ × f = 

=( − )x̂ + ( − )ŷ + ( − )ẑ
 ∂x ∂y ∂z  ∂y ∂z ∂z ∂z ∂x ∂y
 
 fx fy fz 

In Cylindrical Coordinates

• ~ × f~ = ( 1 ∂fz − ∂fφ )r̂ + ( ∂fr − ∂fz )φ̂ + 1 ( ∂ (rfφ ) − ∂fr )ẑ

∇
r ∂φ ∂z ∂z ∂r r ∂r ∂φ
In Spherical Coordinates

~ × f~ = 1 ∂ ∂fθ 1 1 ∂fr ∂ 1 ∂ ∂fr

• ∇ ( (fφ sin θ) − )r̂ + ( − (rfφ )) + ( (rfθ ) − )
r sin θ ∂θ ∂φ r sin θ ∂φ ∂r r ∂r ∂θ

43
Vector Second Derivatives
• ~ · (∇
∇ ~ × ~v ) = 0

• ~ ∇(
∇( ~ · f~))
~ ∇

Vector Laplacian
• ~ 2 f~ = ∇(
∇ ~ ∇~ · f~) − ∇ ~ × f~)
~ × (∇

Stokes’ Theorem
s ¸
• ~ × f~) · d~a = ~v · d~l
(∇
S B

Divergence Theorem
t ¸
• ~ · f~)dV = ~v · d~a
(∇
V S

3.5.9 Dirac Delta Function

(
0 x 6= 0
• δ(x) =
∞ x=0
(
0 x 6= a
• δ(x − a) =
∞ x=a
´∞
• δ(x) dx = 1
−∞

• f (x)δ(x) = f (0)δ(x)

3.5.10 Approximations
• f (x + ∆x) ≈ f (x) + ∆xf 0 (x)

44
Chapter 4

Statistics

4.1 Variance
• var(x) = h(x − hxi)2 i = hx2 i − hxi2

4.2 Standard Deviation

p p
• σx = var(x) = hx2 i − hxi2

45
Appendix A

Values

A.1 Physics
A.1.1 Physical Constants
c: Speed of light
1
• =√ = 299 792 458 m · s−1 ≈ 3 × 108 m · s−1
ε0 µ0
G: Universal gravitational constant
• = 6.67408(31) × 10−11 m3 · kg −1 · s−2 ≈ 6.67 × 10−11 m3 · kg −1 · s−2
g: Average acceleration due to gravity at sea level on Earth

• = 9.80665 m · s−2 ≈ 9.8 m · s−2

h: Planck constant
• = 6.626 070 040 × 10−34 J · s ≈ 6.626 × 10−34 J · s
h̄: Reduced Planck constant
h
• = = 1.054 571 726 × 10−34 J · s ≈ 1.055 × 10−34 J · s
2π
kB : Boltzmann constant
• = 1.3 806 488 × 10−23 J · K −1 ≈ 1.38 × 10−23 J · K −1
ke : Coulomb’s constant
1
• = = 8.987 551 787 × 109 N · m · C −2 ≈ 9 × 109 N · m · C −2
4πε0
NA : Avogadro constant

• = 6.022 140 857(74) × 1023 mol−1 ≈ 6.022 × 1023 mol−1

ε0 : Vacuum permittivity
1
• = = 8.854 187 817 × 10−12 F · m−1 ≈ 8.85 × 10−6 F · m−1
µ0 c2
µ0 : Vacuum permeability
1
• = 4π × 10−7 N · A−2 = ≈ 1.257 × 10−6 N · A−2
ε0 c2

46
 A.1.2 Useful Quantities
Density of air (ρA ): 1.2922 kg · m−3
Density of water (ρw ): 103 kg · m−3
Mass of an electron (me ): 9.10 938 291 × 10−31 kg ≈ 9 × 10−31 kg
Mass of a neutron (mn ): 1.674 927 351 × 10−27 kg ≈ 1.675 × 10−27 kg
Mass of a proton (mp ): 1.672 621 777 × 10−27 kg ≈ 1.672 × 10−27 kg
Speed of sound in air: 343.2 m · s−1
Specific heat capacity of water: 4.186 ×103 J · kg −1 · K −1

A.2 Astronomy
A.2.1 Useful Quantities
Surface Temperature of the Sun: (T ): = 5778 K = 5505 ◦ C

Planetary Properties
Body Mass Average Radius Semi-major axis Eccentricity Orbital period
Mercury ' 3.3011 × 1023 kg 2.4397 × 106 m 5.790905 × 1010 m 0.205630 0.240856 yr
0.055 M⊕ 0.3829 R⊕ 0.387098 AU
1.66 × 10−7 M
1.74 × 10−4 MX
Venus ♀ 4.8675 × 1024 kg 6.0518 × 106 m 1.08208000 × 1011 m 0.006772 0.615198 yr
0.815 M⊕ 0.9499 R⊕ 0.723332 AU
2.447 × 10−6 M
2.56 × 10−3 MX
Earth ⊕ 5.97237 × 1024 kg 6.3710 × 106 m 1.49598023 × 1011 m 0.0167086 1.000017 yr
1 M⊕ 1 R⊕ 1.000001 AU
3.003 × 10−6 M
2.67 × 10−3 MX
Mars ♂ 6.4171 × 1023 kg 3.3895 × 106 m 2.27939200 × 1011 m 0.0934 1.88082 yr
0.107 M⊕ 0.53 R⊕ 1.523679 AU
3.226 × 10−7 M
3.38 × 10−4 MX
Jupiter X 1.8982 × 1027 kg 6.9911 × 107 m 7.4052 × 1011 m 0.0489 11.862 yr
317.8 M⊕ 10.97 R⊕ 5.2044 AU
9.55 × 10−4 M
1 MX
Saturn Y 5.6834 × 1026 kg 5.8232 × 107 m 1.43353 × 1012 m 0.0565 29.4571 yr
95.159 M⊕ 9.14 R⊕ 9.5826 AU
2.86 × 10−4 M
0.299 MX
Uranus Z 8.68 × 1025 kg 2.5362 × 107 m 2.87504 × 1012 m 0.046381 84.0205 yr
14.536 M⊕ 3.98 R⊕ 19.2184 AU
4.36 × 10−5 M
0.046 MX
Neptune [ 1.0243 × 1026 kg 2.4622 × 107 m 4.5 × 1012 m 0.009456 164.8 yr
17.147 M⊕ 3.86 R⊕ 30.11 AU
5.15 × 10−5 M
0.054 MX

47
A.3 Mathematics
Pn 1 1 1 1 1
Euler’s number (e): = + + + + ···
n=0 n! 1 1 1·2 1·2·3
= 2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995 . . .
≈ 2.7182 ≈ 2.718
C C
Pi (π): =
d 2r
= 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510 . . .
≈ 3.14159 ≈ 3.142

48
Appendix B

Units of Measurement

B.1 Natural Units

Handy when you’re dealing with small things.

Charge: elementary charge (e)

• The electric charge of a proton.

• = 1.602 176 565 × 10−19 C ≈ 1.6 × 10−19 C
Energy: electron volt (eV )
• The work done to move an electron across one volt of potential.
• = e · V = 1.602 176 565 × 10−19 J ≈ 1.6 × 10−19 J

B.2 SI System
Universally acknowledged as the best system of units.

B.2.1 Base Units

Amount of Substance: mole (mol)
• The amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary entities as
there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12.
• = 6.022 140 857 × 1023
Electric Current: ampere (A)
• The constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite
length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 m apart in vacuum, would
produce between these conductors a force equal to 210−7 N · m−1 of length.
• = C · s−1
Force: newton (N )
• = 0.224809 lbf

Length: metre (m)

1
• The distance traveled by light in vacuum in s
299 792 458
• = 3.2808 f t
Luminous intensity: candela (cd)

49
 • The luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic
radiation of frequency 5.4 × 1014 Hz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction
1
of watt per steradian.
683
Mass: kilogram (kg)

• = 2.205lb
Thermodynamic Temperature: kelvin (K)
1
• 273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
◦
• = T [ C] + 273.15

Time: second (s)

• The duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of rotation corresponding to the two hyperfine
levels of the ground-state of the caesium-133 atom.

B.2.2 Derived Units

Angle: radian (rad)
• A full circle divided by 2π.
180
• = m · m−1 = ≈ 57.3◦ = 206265 arcsecs
π
Electric Charge: coulomb (C)
• =A·s = 6.242 × 1018 e

Electrical capacitance: farad (F )

• = m−2 · kg −1 · s4 · A2
Electrical conductance: siemens (S)
• = A · V −1 = kg −1 · m−2 · s3 · A2

Electrical inductance: henry (H)

• = W b · A−1 = kg · m2 · s−2 · A−2
Electrical potential difference / Voltage: volt (V )

• = W · A−1 = kg · m2 · s−3 · A−1

Electrical resistance: ohm (Ω)
• V · A−1 = kg · m2 · s−3 · A−2
Energy: joule (J)

• =N ·m = kg · m2 · s−2
Force: newton (N )
• = kg · m · s−2

Frequency: hertz (Hz)

• = s−1
Illuminance: lux (lx)
• = lm · m2 = m−2 · cd

Luminous flux: lumen (lm)

50
 • = cd · sr = cd

Magnetic flux: weber (W b)

• =V ·s = kg · m2 · s−2 · A−1
Magnetic flux density: tesla (T )
• = kg · s−2 · A−1

Power: watt (W )
• =J ·s = kg · m2 · s−3
Pressure: pascal (P a)

• = N · m−2 = kg · m−1 · s−2

Radioactivity: becquerel (Ω)
• Decays per second
• = s−1

Solid angle: steradian (sr)

• = m2 · m−2
Temperature: degree Celcius (◦ C)
• T [C] = T [K] − 273.15

B.3 CGS (centimetres-grams-seconds)

Commonly used in astronomy, to everyone’s disappointment.

Acceleration: gal (Gal)

• = cm · s−2 = 10− 2 m · s−2
Energy: erg (erg)
• = g · cm2 · s−2 = 10−7 J

Force: dyne (dyn)

• = g · cm · s−2 = 10−5 N
Length: centimetre (cm)
• = 0.01 m

Mass: gram (g)

• = 10−3 kg
Power: erg per second (erg/s)

• = g · cm2 · s−2 = 10−7 W

Pressure: barye (Ba)
• = g · cm−1 · s−2 = 10−1 P a
Time: second (s)

Velocity: centimetre per second (cm/s)

• = 10−2 m · s−1

51
Viscosity (dynamic): poise (P )

• = g · cm−1 s−1 = 10−1 P a · s

Viscosity (kinematic): stokes (St)
• = g · cm2 s−1 = 10−4 m2 · s−1
Wavenumber: kayser (K)

• = cm−1 = 100 m−1

B.4 Astronomy units

B.4.1 Astronomical system
Distance: astronomical unit (AU )

• Roughly the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

• = 1.4960 × 1011 m = 4.8481 × 10−6 pc = 1.5813 × 10−5 ly
Mass: solar mass (M )
• = 1.98855 × 1030 kg ≈ 2 × 1030 kg = 1048 MX = 332 950 M

Time: Day
• = 86 400s

Complimentary units

Distance: Solar radius (R )

• = 6.957 × 108 m = 695 700 km ≈ 7 × 108 m

Distance: parsec (pc)
• The distance at which the parallax of an object over the course of the Earth’s orbit is
one arcsec.
• = 3.0857 × 1016 m = 2.0626 × 105 AU = 3.26156 ly
Distance: light year (ly)
• The distance travelled by light in a vacuum in a year.
• = 9.4607 × 1015 m = 6.3241 × 104 AU = 0.3066 pc

Mass: Earth mass (M )

• = 5.9722 × 1024 kg ≈ 6 × 1027 kg
Mass: Jupiter mass (MX )
• = 1.898 × 1027 kg ≈ 1.9 × 1027 kg

Specific Flux: Jansky (Jy)

• = 10−26 W · m−2 · Hz −1

52
B.4.2 Equatorial Coordinate System
Right Ascension (α)
1
Hour (h ): circle = 15◦
24
1h 1
Minute (m ): = circle = 150
60 1440
1m 1 h 1
Second (s ): = = circle = 15”
60 3600 86400

Declination (δ)
Declination is measured using normal degrees (see Degrees of Angle) from the equator.

B.5 United States customary units (aka Imperial Units)

B.5.1 Length
127
Point (p): = mm
360
127
Pica (P/): = 12 p = mm
30
Inch (in or ”): = 6 P/ = 25.4 mm
Foot (f t or 0 ): = 12 in = 0.3048 m

Yard (yd): = 3 f t = 0.9144 m

Mile (M i): = 5280 f t = 1760 yd = 1.609344 km

B.6 Degrees of Angle

1 π
Degree (◦ ): circle = rad ≈ 0.0174532925199433 rad
360 180
1◦ 1 π
Minute of arc (arcmin or 0 ): = circle = rad
60 21600 10800
1 1 ◦ 1 π
Second of arc(arcsec or ”): arcmin = = circle = rad
60 3600 206265 648000

B.7 Miscellaneous Units

B.7.1 Pressure
Bar (bar): = 105 P a ≈ 0.9869 atm
Atmosphere (atm): = 101325 P a = 1.01325 bar
1 101325
Torr (torr): = atm = Pa ≈ 133.3224 P a
760 760

53
B.8 Prefixes
atto (a) = ×10−18
femto (f ) = ×10−15

pico (p) = ×10−12

nano (n) = ×10−9
micro (µ) = ×10−6

milli (m) = ×10−3

centi (c) = ×10−2
deca (da) = ×101
hecto (h) = ×102

kilo (k) = ×103

mega (M ) = ×106
giga (G) = ×109

tera (T ) = ×1012
peta (P ) = ×1015
exa (E) = ×1018

54
Appendix C

Mathematical Stuff

C.1 Trigonometric Values C.1.1 Pythagorean Triples

π
6

S A
√
3 2 π
T C 4 √
2
1
π π π π
2 3 4 2
◦
rad sin cos tan 1 1
0 0 0 1 0
√ √
π/6 30 1/2 3/2 1/ 3
√ √
π/4 45 1/ 2 1/ 2 1
√ √
π/3 60 3/2 1/2 3
π/2 90 1 0 ±∞
√ √
2π/3 120 3/2 −1/2 − 3
√ √
3π/4 135 1/ 2 −1/ 2 −1
√ √
5π/6 150 1/2 − 3/2 −1/ 3
π 180 0 −1 0
√ √
7π/6 210 −1/2 3/2 1/ 3
√ √
5π/4 225 −1/ 2 −1/ 2 1
√ √
4π/3 240 − 3/2 −1/2 3
3π/2 270 −1 0 ±∞
√ √
5π/3 300 − 3/2 1/2 − 3
√ √
7π/4 315 −1/ 2 1/ 2 −1
√ √
11π/6 330 −1/2 3/2 −1/ 3
2π 360 0 1 0

55
Appendix D

Boring stuff

D.1 Version History

v 0.1 2016: This project is begun in a trio of physical exercise books as The Little Book of Physics
Formulae, The Little Book of Mathematics Formulae, and The Little Book of Astronomy
Formulae
v 0.6 2016: The process of transferring the formulae from paper to Latex is initiated, but aban-
doned (or drifted away from).

v 0.7 2018-03-20: The project is resurrected (probably because the author started MRes), up-
loaded to Overleaf, and cleaned up.
v 0.8 2018-07-12: All remaining formulae imported from the original books.
v 0.9 2018-07-26: Formulae imported from undergrad formula sheets.

v 1.0 2018-07-27: First public release, with some additions from 0.9.

D.2 Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons “Attribution-

ShareAlike 4.0 International” license.

(Basically, as long as you credit me and share under a similar license, feel free to use this
however you want)

D.3 Contact
Visit www.webofworlds.net for science fiction, science fact, geeky opinions, and maybe some Python
code.
Suggestions or corrections are welcome at webofworlds@gmail.com

D.4 Credits
Unit Circle: By Jim.belk [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or
GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons (https:
//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unit_circle_angles_color.svg)

Periodic Table: By Dmarcus100 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/

by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Periodic_Table_Of_Elements_Atomic_Mass_Black_And_White.jpg)

56