Transcript Electron Degeneracy Pressure

Quantum Mechanics - Confinement
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: The position and momentum of a
particle cannot be precisely specified simultaneously.
"Classical physics seemed the limiting case of visualization of a
fundamentally unvisualizable microphysics...“ - Heisenberg
Quantum Mechanics
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
x p = h/2
What does it mean? If you attempt to confine a particle into a smaller
and smaller space (x gets smaller and smaller) the uncertainty in the
momentum gets bigger and bigger:
p = h/{2 x}
The core is a high
temperature soup
of protons and
electrons, as well
as heavier elements
Quantum Mechanics
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
p = h/{2 x}
v = h/{2 mx}
What does it mean? The smaller mass particle will have the highest
uncertainty in the speed, and therefore the higher uncertainty in kinetic
energy. The smallest mass particles in the core will be electrons, and as they
are confined to a smaller and smaller core, they will move faster and faster,
thereby producing the pressure that hold up the core.
Quantum Mechanics
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
p = h/{2 x}
v = h/{2 mx}
Electron degeneracy pressure: the pressure exerted by electrons caused
by the confinement in the small core of a star that has left the main sequence.
Quantum Mechanics
The Pauli Exclusion Principle
Pauli Exclusion Principle: Two electrons cannot exist in the same “state.”
Quantum Mechanics
The Pauli Exclusion Principle
Pauli Exclusion Principle: Two electrons cannot exist in the same “state.”
As the non-burning core collapses, electrons are forced more
and more in to the same “state.”
Quantum Mechanics
The Pauli Exclusion Principle
Pauli Exclusion Principle: Two electrons cannot exist in the same “state.”
The Pauli Exclusion Principle will not allow the core to collapse
beyond a certain volume.
Quantum Mechanics
The Pauli Exclusion Principle
Pauli Exclusion Principle: Two electrons cannot exist in the same “state.”
The Pauli Exclusion Principle is the mechanism that stops the
collapse of the core and is the mechanism for degeneracy
pressure.