The Physics of Interstellar Dust

Interstellar dust clouds catalyze simple chemical reactions, absorb, scatter, polarize, and re-radiate starlight, and form the building blocks for planet and stellar formation. Understanding this interstellar medium is then of primary importance in many areas of astronomy & astrophysics. This book provides a theoretical description of the fundamental physics of interstellar material, including a description of its composition, morphology, grain size and distribution, dynamics, dielectric permeability, radiation scattering and spectral features. Other chapters describe the surface chemistry, and role of dust in stellar formation, including the spectral behavior of protostars and dust around early stars.