Definition
The expression “radiative processes” encompasses all the various physical processes by which a medium releases energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. At the microscopic level, this involves the emission of a photon by an elementary particle, as the result of specific interactions with other particles or particular conditions of temperature, acceleration, and/or excitation. Several radiative processes producing continuum emission can be identified: on one side, blackbody and bremsstrahlung radiation which are the source of thermal emission and, on the other side, cyclotron, gyrosynchrotron, and synchrotron emission, which are linked to the spiraling of charged particles in a magnetic field and considered as nonthermal processes. Note that we do not consider in this entry spectral line emission, which results from quantum transitions between energy levels of an atom, molecule, or ion.
Overview
Since the quasi-unique source of information on celestial objects is the...
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References and Further Reading
Gary DE (nd) Radio emission mechanisms. http://web.njit.edu/∼gary/728/Lecture2.html
Goody R, Yung YL (1989) Atmospheric radiation. Oxford University Press, New York
Harwit M (1988) Astrophysical concepts. Springer, New York
Mihalas D (1978) Stellar atmospheres. Freedman, San Francisco
Rybicki GB, Lightman AP (1979) Radiative process in astrophysics. Wiley, New York
Scheffler H, Elsässer H (1987) Physics of the galaxy and interstellar matter. Springer, Berlin
Shu FH (1991) The physics of astrophysics 1: radiation. University Science, Mill Valley
Spitzer L (1978) Physical processes in the interstellar medium. Wiley, New York
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Rouan, D. (2015). Radiative Processes. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1335
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