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Chandra M. Adhikari
Birth of a star
Figure : Molecular clouds collapse under their own gravity to form a star.
The potential energy lost during the collapsing results the increase in
temperature.
http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2012/clumpcores/
Chandra M. Adhikari White dwarf stars and neutron stars
Life cycle of star
Death of a star
Figure : When a star runs out of fuel (nuclear) it collapses. A low mass
star becomes a white dwarf, a medium mass star becomes a neutron star,
and a large mass star becomes a black hole.
http://planetfacts.org/star/
Chandra M. Adhikari White dwarf stars and neutron stars
What is a White dwarf?
So, did we get a clear picture about white dwarf from those
equations?
→ No!, not yet.
GM 2
dEg
dEg = dR = α 2 dR (4)
dR R
where G is gravitational constant, and α is a number ≈ O(1).
Chandra M. Adhikari White dwarf stars and neutron stars
Ground state degenerate Fermi gas of the white dwarf
α GM 2
dE0 + dEg = 0 =⇒ P0 (R) = (5)
4π R 4
Recall the parameter x.
1/3 1/3
h 3n h/me c 9πM
x= = . (6)
me c 8π R 8mp
Then
3
GM 2 /R
h h/me c
A(x) = 6πα (7)
me c R mc 2
If R 108 cm
s
1/3 2/3
(9π)1/3 ~
M M
R≈ 1− (9)
2 me c mp M0
where
1/2
(~c/G )3/2
9 3π
M0 = (10)
64 α3 mp2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron star
http://www.sfu.ca/ boal/390lecs/390lec29.pdf
Figure : Fermi energy of an electron is about 1836 times larger than that
of a proton. When EFe − EFp > (mn − mp )c 2 , a proton captures the
electron near the Fermi level and becomes a neutron.The energy required
for an electron capture is (mn − mp − me )c 2 = 1.34 × 10−13 J.
Figure : As a massive star runs out of the nuclear fuel, it’s core becomes
denser and the outer part becomes rarer. Then the star explodes. The
core collapses into a single point of infinite density forming a black hole.
It’s gravity is so high that even a photon gets trapped into it.