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6.7: Problems

  • Page ID
    141637
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    1. Describe the physical conditions that correspond to polytropes of different indices, and discuss which stars meet these conditions.
    2. What modifications must be made to the classical equation of hydrostatic equilibrium to obtain the Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation of hydrostatic equilibrium?
    3. Find the mass-radius law for super-massive stars generating energy by means of the proton-proton cycle. Assume that the metal abundance is very small.
    4. Determine the mass corresponding to a white dwarf at the limit of stability to general relativity.
    5. Evaluate the relativistic integrals in equation (6.4.4) for a polytrope of index n = 3. Be careful for the Euclidean metric appropriate for the polytropic tables is not the same as the Schwarzschild metric of the equation (see Fricke9 p. 941).
    6. Use the results of Problem 5 to reevaluate the minimum radius for white dwarfs.
    7. Assuming that a neutron star can be represented by a polytrope with \(\gamma=3/2\), find the minimum radius for a neutron star for which it is stable against general relativity. To what mass does this correspond?

    This page titled 6.7: Problems is shared under a Public Domain license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by George W. Collins II (Pachart Foundation) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.