Date of Award
6-2008
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Physics
First Advisor
Dr. Kirk T. Korista
Second Advisor
Dr. Dean Halderson
Third Advisor
Dr. Clement Burns
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
White dwarfs are the remnant cores of medium and low mass stars with initial mass less than 8 times the mass of our sun. As the aging giant star expels its surface layers as planetary nebulae, the core is exposed as a white dwarf progenitor. The density of matter in white dwarfs is so high that thermal or radiation pressure no longer supports the star against the relentless pull of gravity. The white dwarf is supported by a new kind of pressure known as the degeneracy pressure, which is forced on the electrons by the laws of quantum mechanics. The matter in the white dwarf can be explained by using the Fermi gas distribution function for degenerate electrons. Using this we have found the pressure due to electron degeneracy in the non-relativistic, relativistic and ultra-relativistic regimes. Polytropic equations of state were used to calculate the mass-radius relation for white dwarfs and also to find their limiting mass, which is known as the Chandrasekhar limit.
Recommended Citation
Ganapathy, Subramanian Vilayur, "The Physics of Electron Degenerate Matter in White Dwarf Stars" (2008). Masters Theses. 4251.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4251