Chapter 16

White Dwarfs

The end product of stellar evolution depends on the mass of the initial configuration. Ob-
servational data and theoretical calculations indicate that stars with mass M < 4M! after
ejecting part of their mass in the form of a planetary nebula give birth to a white dwarf, with
typical mass, radius and density M 1M! , R 5000 km, and 106 gr/cm3 . White
dwarfs are composed largely of helium, carbon and oxygen, because the progenitors masses
are such that the temperature never becomes high enough to burn much beyond carbon, and
even if burning may, in principle, proceed all the way to iron the time needed to complete
the process would be longer than the Universe age. As we shall later show, white dwarfs of
mass exceeding the critical value MCH 1.4M! cannot exist.
Neutron stars or black holes are thought to be the leftover of the gravitational collapse,
following a supernova explosion, of stars whose mass is greater than 4M! , but the mech-
anism that may produce one or the other is still unclear. (For a review, see for instance
A. Heger, C. L. Fryer, S. E. Woosley, N. Langer, D.H. Hartmann
How massive single stars end their life,
The astrophysical Journal 59, 288-300, 2003. Also available at
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/issues/ApJ/v591n1/57419/57419.html).
Numerical simulations indicate that if the mass of the progenitor star is smaller than
[20, 30]M! , a neutron star should form, whereas bigger masses would produce a black
hole. As for white dwarfs, a critical mass exists also for neutron stars. The absolute upper
limit is in the range 2 3M! ; the value of the critical mass depends on the equation of
state which is chosen to describe matter at supranuclear densities, as those prevailing in the
core of a neutron stars. Neutron stars have been observed in binary systems or as isolated
objects. Typical parameters are M 1 3 M! , R 10 km, and 1012 gr/cm3.
Black holes of astrophysical origin can have very different masses, ranging from a few
solar masses of the stellar black holes, born in the gravitational collapse of big stars or in
the coalescence or accretion driven processes in binary systems, to supermassive black holes,
with masses M 106 108 M! , which sit at the center of several galaxies.
In this chapter we shall focus on the study of white dwarfs, whose structure can be
described using the equations of newtonian gravity; in the next chapter we shall derive the
equations of stellar structure in general relativity, needed to describe neutron stars.

231
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 232

16.1 The discovery of white dwarfs

The first white dwarf, Sirius B, was observed in 1915 by Adams. He found that the spectrum
of the stellar object orbiting around Sirius, named Sirius B was that of a white star, not
very different from the spectrum of Sirius. The mass of the newly discovered star was found
by applying third Keplers law
GMSB
2r = ,
r2
and it was estimated to be in the range 0.75 0.95M! . Knowing the distance of the
system from Earth, from the observed flux of radiation it was possible to estimate the effective
temperature, that in this case was 8000 K. Since for a black-body emission L R2 Tef 4
f,
from spectral measurements it was then possible to estimate the radius of the star, which
was, surprisingly, RSB = 18.800 km, much smaller than that of the Sun! The actual values
of the mass and radius are MSB = 1.034 0.026 M! and RSB = 0.084 0.00025 R! (i.e.
RSB 5850 km).
At that time this result was really a surprise because a star having a mass comparable
to that of the Sun but a radius nearly forthy times smaller had never been observed. In
addition, although the gravitational redshift predicted by Einsteins theory of Relativity had
already been measured in the famous Eddington expedition in 1919, the redshift of spectral
lines of Sirius B measured by Adams in 1925 provided a much better verification of the
theory, and in fact in his book The internal constitution of stars Sir Arthur Eddington wrote
Professor Adams has killed two birds with one stone: he has carried out a new test of
Einsteins general theory of relativity, and he has confirmed our suspicion that matter 2000
times denser than platinum is not only possible, but it is actually present in our universe.

The discovery of such an extremely dense star raised a main question: how can this
white dwarf, as it was named, support its matter against collapse? Indeed, if the matter
composing the star were a perfect gas its temperature would be too low to prevent the
collapse, i.e. the corresponding pressure gradient would not be sufficient to balance the
gravitational attraction. About this problem Eddington wrote
It seems likely that the ordinary failure of the gas laws due to finite sizes of molecules will
occur at these high densities, and I do not suppose that the white dwarfs behave like perfect
gas.
What is then that keeps white dwarfs in equilibrium? The answer to this question came
a few years later, when Dirac formulated the Fermi-Dirac statistics (August 1926), R.H.
Fowler identified the pressure holding up a white dwarf from collapsing with the electron
degeneracy pressure (December 1926). This was the crucial step toward the formulation of
a consistent theory of these stars that led S. Chandrasekhar to predict the existence of a
critical mass above which no stable white dwarf could exist.
In order to formulate the theory, let us briefly recall some basic equations of degenerete
gases.
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 233

16.1.1 Degenerate gas in quantum mechanics

A perfect gas is said to be degenerate if its behaviour differs from the classical behaviour due
to the quantum properties of the system of particles. Since degenerate gases are important
in the study of the internal structure of compact stars, we shall outline some basic elements
of the theory. Consider a gas composed by particles all belonging to the same species. In
general, the system will be completely described if we assign the number of particles per unit
phase-space volume, i.e. the number density in the phase space
dN g
= f (x, p), (16.1)
d3 xd3 p h3

where h3 is the volume of a cell in the phase-space, g = 2s + 1 is the number of states of

a particle with a given value of the 3-momentum p, s is the spin, and f (x, p) is the
probability density function, i.e. the probability of finding a particle at a position between
x and x + dx and with a 3-momentum between p and p + dp. 1 If the rest mass of a
1
particle is m, its total energy is E = [p2 c2 + m2 c4 ] 2 and the total energy density of the
gas is ! !
dN g
E= E 3 3 d3 p = 3 E f (x, p) d3 p . (16.4)
d xd p h
The distribution function for an ideal gas of fermions or boson in equilibrium is
1
f= Ec , (16.5)
e kT 1
where the + sign holds for fermions (Fermi-Dirac statistics) and the - for bosons (Bose-
Einstein statistics).
Some useful relations:
1

The 4-momentum of a relativistic particle is

p = (mc, p),

where p = mv is the 3-momentum. Moreover, remember that the total energy of the particle is E = p0 c.
Since p p = m2 c2 , it follows that
E2
2 + p2 = m2 c2 ,
c
where p is the norm of the 3-momentum, and consequently the total energy of the particle can be written
2

as " #1/2
E = p 2 c2 + m 2 c4 . (16.2)
From this equation it follows that, since E = mc2
" #1/2
p 2 c2 + m 2 c4
=
mc2
and since the norm of the particle velocity is v = p/(m),

pc2
v= 1/2
. (16.3)
[p2 c2 + m2 c4 ]
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 234

1
In eq. (16.5) Ec is the particle kinetic energy Ec = [p2 c2 + m2 c4 ] 2 mc2 and is
the chemical potential, which is the partial derivative of any thermodynamical potential of
the system (the enthalpy, the internal energy, etc.) with respect to the number of moles,
keeping fixed the number of moles of the other species of particles if present, and the state
parameters in terms of which the potential is expressed. For example
$ % $ %
H U
i = = , (16.6)
ni S, P, nk =const
ni S, V, nk =const

where H is the enthalpy and U the internal energy. From eq. (16.5) we see that, since f
must be positive, the chemical potential of fermions can take any real value, either positive
or negative, whereas that of bosons is bounded to be < Ec .
If the temperature is high, or the energy is low (E << kT ) the Bose-Einstein and the
Fermi-Dirac distribution tend to the classical Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
Ec
f e kT . (16.7)

Since f given in (16.5) only depends on Ec , i.e. it only depends on the norm of the 3-
momentum p, the distribution of momenta is isotropic and we can write d3 p = 4p2 dp.
Thus, eq. (16.4) becomes
!
4g E p2 dp
E= 3 Ec . (16.8)
h 0 e kT 1
The pressure can be written as
! !
1 dN 4g v p3 dp
P = pv 3 3 d3 p = Ec , (16.9)
3 d xd p 3h3 0 e kT 1
where v is the particles velocity and the factor 13 comes from the hypothesis of isotropy.
This equation defines the pressure as the momentum flux.
Furthermore the total number of particles and the internal energy of the system can be
written as
! !
dN 3 3 4gV p2 dp
N = d x d p = c
, (16.10)
d3 xd3 p h3 0 e EkT 1
and
! !
dN 4gV p2 dp
U = Ec 3 3 d3 x d3 p = E c Ec .
d xd p h3 0 e kT 1

16.1.2 A criterion for degeneracy

1 p2
Let us consider the non-relativistic limit when Ec # 2
mv 2 = 2m
. If we introduce the
variables
p2
= e/kT and x2 =
2mkT
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 235

it is easy to see that eqs. (16.10) reduce to

!
4gV 3/2
x2 dx
N = (2mkT ) , (16.11)
h3 0 1ex2 1
and
!
4gV 3/2 5/2 x4 dx
U = (2m) (kT ) .
h3 0 1 ex2 1
In principle, these integrals can be solved and can be found as a function of the thermo-
dynamical variables. Here we shall consider explicitely the limit when << 1, i.e., for the
Fermi-Dirac statistics in which we are primarily interested, when is negative and much
bigger than kT. In this case the integrals become
! !
x2 dx 2

1 x 2 # x2 ex dx
0 e 1 0
! !
x4 dx 2

1 x 2 # x4 ex dx;
0 e 1 0

thus, combining the expressions of N and U given in eqs. (16.11) we find

&
4 x 2
U x e dx
= (kT ) &0 2 x2
N 0 x e dx
& 2 & 2
and since 0 x4 ex dx = 38 and 0 x2 ex dx = 14 we find U = 32 NkT, which is the
classical expression of the internal energy of a perfect gas. Thus << 1 corresponds to
the classical limit. In this limit, from the first eq. (16.11) we find

Nh3
= (2mkT )3/2 . (16.12)
gV

If we now put n0 = N/V , where n0 is the number of particles per cm3 , and define a degeneracy
temperature
' (2/3
h2 n0
Tdeg = , (16.13)
2mk g
eq. (16.12) can be rewritten as
) *
Tdeg 3/2
= . (16.14)
T
Thus, Tdeg % T , then << 1 and the gas behaves as a classical gas; Conversely a perfect
gas is said degenerate if Tdeg & T (i.e. >> 1). When h 0 the degeneracy temperature
tends to zero, showing that the degeneracy of a gas is of a quantum nature. Degeneracy sets
in at high densities or low temperatures.
Eq. (16.13) shows that at a given density n0 , Tdeg is higher for particles with smaller mass
m. Thus, electrons becomes degenerate earlier than heavier particles.
EXAMPLES
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 236

For a hydrogen gas in normal condition, i.e. T = 300K and n0 3 1019 cm3
1.5 105 and the corresponding degeneracy temperature is Tdeg 0.18K, thus it
behaves as a classical perfect gas.

For gases heavier than hydrogen and Tdeg are even smaller, and consequently at
ordinary pressures and temperatures they are non-degenerate.

A gas of photons is always degenerate because m = 0 and Tdeg = .

Electrons in metals are degenerate, due to their small mass (m = 9.109389 1028 g)
and high density (n0 1023 cm3 ). Indeed in this case Tdeg 75.4 103 K, and if, for
example, T = 300 K 3.99 103.
Let us now go back to white dwarfs. As we said before, they are mainly composed of
helium, carbon and oxygen, with heavier elements in the inner core. When the nuclear
material in the core has been burnt, the core contracts up to a point when the distance
between two nuclei becomes comparable with the dimensions of the nuclei (this happens
1
when 5z 2 g/cm3 and d rBhor z 3 where z is the nuclear charge). In this situation,
there is no more space left for the external orbits of the electrons which are squeezed off
starting a pressure driven ionization process which proceeds as the density increases, pro-
gressively involving the innermost orbits. As a consequence of this process a dense core
of nucleons forms, immersed in a degenerate gas of free electrons. At the same time the
shells of lighter elements that surround the nucleus continue their nuclear evolution until all
nuclear fuel is exhausted, and contraction and ionization processess take place also in the
more exterior layers; the star then radiates its residual thermal energy and cools down. A
more accurate description of white dwarfs should take into account other effects, like for
example electrostatic corrections due to the fact that the positive charges are concentrated
in individual nuclei rather than being uniformly distributed. 2 However, in what follows we
shall neglect these effects. We shall consider a white dwarf at the endpoint of the evolution,
assuming that the ionization process has been completed throughout the configuration and
that the star has radiated away its thermal energy, so that it is composed exclusively of a
dense core of nucleons, immersed in a gas of electrons that behave as a degenerate gas at
zero temperature.
To describe the structure of a white dwarf we do not need General Relativity. Indeed,
for a typical white dwarf the surface gravity is quite small
GM M! (in km) 1.5 km
= 3 104 .
c2 R R 5000
Thus, we shall use the newtonian equations of stellar structure, which can easily be found
as follows.

Let us consider a shell of matter of radius r and thickness dr. Be dV = dAdr the vol-
ume of a fluid element belonging to the shell, where dA is its section (orthogonal to r),
and be dM = dV its mass. The forces acting on the fluid element are the gravitational
2
Electrostatic corrections have been considered by Hamada and Salpeter in 1961. (T. Hamada, E.E.
Salpeter Astrophys. J. bf 134, 683, 1961).
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 237

attraction exerted by the sphere of mass M(r) and the gradient of pressure across the shell;
if the fluid element is in equilibrium they balance, i.e.

dP GM(r) dP GM(r)(r)
drdA = dM = . (16.15)
dr r2 dr r2
The mass contained within a sphere of radius r is
! r
dM(r)
M(r) = (r) 4r 2 dr, = 4r 2(r). (16.16)
0 dr
Equations (16.15) and (16.16) can be solved only if we assign a further equation which relates
pressure and density, i.e. and equation of state P = P (). Finally, the equilibrium equations
to be solved are
dM(r)


= 4r 2 (r),

dr



dP GM(r) (16.17)



= (r),



dr r2




P = P ().

We shall now determine the equation of state (EOS) of a degenerate gas.

16.1.3 The equation of state of a degenerate gas

When T 0 the Fermi-Dirac distribution function becomes
/
1 for E EF (or p pF , )
f (E) = (16.18)
0 for E > EF ,
where EF and pF are the Fermi energy and momentum. Since the temperature is zero,
the particles have zero kinetic energy. If they were bosons they would occupy the lowest
energy level E = 0, as it happens in Bose condensation. But fermions cannot do this, since
Paulis exclusion principle states that in each energy level there can be at most two electrons,
one with spin up and one with spin down. Thus, electrons will fill all states with energy
lower than EF .
An expression of pF as a function of the density can be found as follows. The number
of levels with momenta between p and p + dp per unit volume is

number of levels 4p2 dp

d = = . (16.19)
unit volume h3
Since Paulis principle establishes that two spin states are available, there are two electrons
in each level; thus the number of electrons per unit volume is
! pF ! pF
8p2 dp 8
n=2 d = 3
= 3 p3F . (16.20)
0 0 h 3h
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 238

If there are nucleons for each electron ( 2 for stars that have used their hydrogen fuel)
the mass density is
= nmN , (16.21)
where mN = 1.67 1024 g is the mass of the nucleons. The electrons contibution to the
mass density is negligible since me << mN . From eqs. (16.20) and (16.21) we can find pF
as a function of the density
) *1
3 3
pF = h . (16.22)
8mN
Knowing pF , we can determine the kinetic energy-density ( and the pressure P of the gas
as follows
U 8 ! pF 2 2 1
( = = 3 {[p c + m2e c4 ] 2 me c2 }p2 dp, (16.23)
V h 0
1
where Ec = [p2 c2 + m2e c4 ] 2 me c2 is the kinetic energy of each electron, and using eq.
(16.9) and (16.3)
!
8 pF p 4 c2
P = 3 1 dp. (16.24)
3h 0 [p2 c2 + m2e c4 ] 2
These equations can be easily integrated in two regimes: 1) the non-relativistic and 2) the
ultrarelativistic regime. To this purpose, it is useful to define a critical density, crit , as
the density at which the Fermi momentum becomes equal to me c; using eq. (16.22)
) *3
8 me c
crit = mN = 0.98 106 g/cm3 . (16.25)
3 h
1) If << crit , cpF << me c2 and the electrons are non relativistic. In this case
eq. (16.24) gives
! pF
8 p4 8 p5F
P dp = , (16.26)
3h3 0 me 15h3 me
and using eq. (16.22)

) *2/3 ) *5
h2 3 1 3 5
P = 3. (16.27)
5me 8 mN

Thus, the gas of degenerate electrons behaves as a perfect gas with a polytropic equa-
tion of state

P = K , where (16.28)

) *2/3 ) *5
h2 3 1 3 5
K= , and = .
5me 8 mN 3

Moreover, from eq. (16.23) the kinetic energy-density is

! pF ! pF
8 1 p 2 c2 4 p4
( {me c2 (1 + ) me c2 }p2 dp = 3 dp, (16.29)
h3 0 2
2 me c 4 h 0 me
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 239

and using eq. (16.26)

4 p5F 3
(= 3
= P. (16.30)
5h me 2
2) If >> crit , cpF >> me c2 and the electrons are ultra-relativistic. In this case
from eq. (16.24) we find
! pF
8 2c 4
P = 3 p3 cdp = p , (16.31)
3h 0 3h3 F
and using eq. (16.22)
) *1/3 ) *4
ch 3 1 3 4
P = 3 . (16.32)
8 mN
Again, the degenerate gas of electrons behaves as a perfect gas with a polytropic
equation of state

P = K , where (16.33)

) *1/3 ) * 4
ch 3 1 3 4
K= , and = .
8 mN 3

Moreover ! pF
8
(= p3 cdp, (16.34)
h3 0
i.e.
( = 3P. (16.35)

SUMMARY: We have shown that a degenerate gas of electrons can be described by a

polytropic equation of state
P = K
in two different regimes:

non relativistic regime << crit ,

) *2/3 ) *5
h2 3 1 3 5
K= = 9.9156 1012 5/3 erg 2/g 8/3 , and = ,
5me 8 mN 3
(16.36)

ultra-relativistic regime >> crit ,

) *1/3 ) *4
ch 3 1 3 4
K= = 1.2316 1015 4/3 erg 2 /g 7/3 , and = ,
8 mN 3
(16.37)
where ) *3
8 me c
crit = mN = 0.98 106 g/cm3 .
3 h
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 240

From these expressions we see that, in a completely degenerate gas, pressure depends only
on density. As the density increases, degeneracy pressure increases as well, and the pressure
gradients which develops inside the star is sufficient to support the equilibrium against
gravitational contraction. This is true, as we shall later see, if the mass does not exceed a
critical value.
It should also be noted that, either in the non releativistic and in the highly relativistic
regime, a degenerate gas behaves as a perfect gas with a polytropic equation of state. This
clearly contradicts Eddinghtons idea that in the high density regime typical of the interior
of a white dwarf, stellar matter should not behave as a perfect fluid.

16.1.4 The structure of a White Dwarf

We shall now find the equilibrium configuration of a white dwarf solving the newtonian
equations of hydrostatic equilibrium (16.17) and using the results obtained in the previous
section.
As mentioned in section 16.1.2, in order to solve eqs. (16.17) we need to know the
equations of state of matter, i.e. an equation which relates pressure to density; since we are
interested in the two regimes described in section 16.1.3, i.e. the non relativistic ( << crit ),
and the relativistic regimes ( >> crit ), we shall assume that the EOS has a polytropic form;
thus the complete set of equations to solve by imposing appropriate boundary conditions is

dM(r)




= 4r 2

dr



dP GM(r) (16.38)



=



dr r2




P = K .
It is easy to see that the first two equations can be combined into the following second order
equation (hint: differentiate the second equations and replace the expression of dMdr(r) given
by the first) ' (
1 d r 2 dP
= 4G. (16.39)
r 2 dr dr
Be 0 = (r = 0), the central density; by putting



1

=1+ , where n is called polytropic index

n



= 0 n (r) (16.40)







1
1+ n
P = K 0 (n+1) (r),

eq. (16.39) becomes

' (
( 1 1) 1 d d
(n + 1)K 0n 2
r2 = 4G n . (16.41)
r dr dr
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 241

If we now introduce the following dimensionless radial coordinate

12
( 1 1)
r (n + 1)K 0n
= , where = , (16.42)
4G
eq. (16.41) becomes ' (
1 d d
2
2 = n , (16.43)
d d
known as the Lane-Emden equation. It should be noted that this is a dimensionless equation,
which depends only on the polytropic index n.
The physical boundary conditions that have to be imposed to solve the structure equa-
tions are that at r = 0 the density has some assigned value 0 and that at the surface of the
star, r = R, the pressure vanishes, i.e.:
(0) = 0 , p(R) = 0. (16.44)
Since = 0 n , the first condition implies that (0) = 1; moreover, since the mass goes to
zero as M(r) 4 r 3 , from eq. (16.38) it follows that
3 0
dP 4G
r 20 ,
dr 3
i.e. it goes to zero as r. From the EOS P = K we find
dP d
= K 1
dr dr
from which it follows that if dP
dr
tends to zero d
dr
must tend to zero as well. Thus, a further
$
condition to impose on is theta (r = 0) = 0. In conclusion the Lane-Emden equation
(16.43) must be integrated by imposing that at the center of the star
$
(0) = 1,
(16.45)
$ (0) = 0.
It can be shown that if > 65 , () vanishes for some = 1 . When = 0 both
the density and the pressure vanish, therefore 1 is the boundary of the star, which can be
determined numerically.
The procedure to find the stellar structure can be summarized as follows.
Choose a value of (for instance = 53 or = 43 ), find the corresponding polytropic
1
index n = 1 , and integrate numerically eq. (16.43) with the initial conditions (16.45)
up to the value = 1 where = 0. For instance, for = 53 and = 43 we would
find
= 5
3
n= 3
2
1 = 3.65375 12 $ (1 ) = 2.71406 (16.46)

= 4
3
n = 3 1 = 6.89685 12 $ (1 ) = 2.01824 (16.47)

It should be noted that is a monotonically decreasing function of , that is why its

first derivative at the boundary is negative.
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 242

Assign a value to , i.e. the number of nucleons per free electrons, then find K from
eq. (16.36) or (16.37). Choose a central density 0 . Knowing K and 0 the radius of
the star can be found using the definition of given in eqs. (16.42)
4 51
(n + 1)K 2 1n
R = 1 R = 1 02n . (16.48)
4G

The mass of the star can now be determined as follows

! R ! 1
M = 4r 2 (r)dr = 43 0 2 n d
0 0
! 1 ' (
3 d d
= 4 0 2 d
0 d d
= 43 0 12 $ (1 )

where use has been made of eq. (16.43). Finally, the value of M as function of K and
0 can be found by using the expression of given in (16.42)
4 53
(n + 1)K 2 3n
M = 4 12 |$ (1 )| 02n . (16.49)
4G

Let us define 4 5
(n + 1)K
A= , B = 4 12 |$ (1 )|, (16.50)
4G
so that 1n
R = 1 A1/2 02n , (16.51)
and 3n
M = B A3/2 02n . (16.52)
Combinig eqs. (16.51) and (16.52), a relation between M and R can easily be
derived ) n3
*
n 3n
M = B A n1 11n R 1n . (16.53)

From the procedure outlined above we understand that, having fixed the number of nucleons
per free electrons, , and the polytropic index n, once we have found 1 and $ (1 ) by numer-
ical integration of the Lane-Emden equation we obtain a family of solutions parametrized
with different values of the central density 0 , the radii and masses of which are given by
(16.48) and (16.49).
Conversely, if we change the number of nucleons per free electrons, the new configuration
can easily be obtained by rescaling the various quantities in the following way
"
$ =
, P $ = P, (16.54)
6 72
M(r)$ =
"
M(r), r $ = $ r.

CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 243

16.1.5 A note on the numerical integration of eq. (16.43)

Although the initial conditions (16.45) are correct, it would be impossible to integrate eq.
(16.43) numerically starting from = 0 with these conditions. Indeed, since = 0 is
a singular point, running the code we would get immediately an overflow. However this
problem can be overcome if we start the numerical integration at some small, but finite,
value of = start and use as initial values for the function () a suitable Taylor expansion.
Let us do it step by step.
Since we know from (16.45) that (0) = 1 and $ (0) = 0, we can write the approximate
solution near = 0 as a power series

() 1 + 2 2 + 3 3 + 4 4 + O( 5), (16.55)

(we can keep as many terms we want, but let us stop here). 1 , 2 , 3 .. are the constants
we need to find using eq. (16.43), therefore we also need to Taylor-expand the function n
on the right hand side, i.e.
n 1 + n2 2 + O( 3); (16.56)
by substituting in eq. (16.43) the expansions (16.55) and (16.56) we find

62 + 123 + 204 2 + ... = [1 + n2 2 ] + ... (16.57)

and this equation is satisfied only if the coefficients of the same power of vanish, i.e.
1
1 = 62 2 =
6
3 = 0
n
20 4 = n2 4 = ;
120
the expansion has only even powers of (this is true also at higher order). Thus the approx-
imate solution for and $ near the origin is
1 n 4
() 1 2 + + O( 6) (16.58)
6 120
1 n
$ () + 3 + O( 5).
3 30
We now have all we need to numerically integrate the Lane-Emden equation, because we can
start at, say, start = 104 using as initial values the functions (16.59) computed at start .

16.2 The Chandrasekhar limit

In section 16.1.3 we have shown that if the density is much smaller than the critical density,
electrons behave as a polytropic gas with = 53 . In this regime eqs. (16.50) give

A = 2.9562 1019 5/3 , B = 34.1059

CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 244

and using eq.(16.25) and (16.52) we can write the mass of the star in this form
' (1/2
5/2 0
M = 2.73 M! , (16.59)
c

where M! = 1.989 1033 g is the mass of the Sun. This equation shows that the mass of the
star increases with the central density. As the central density increases above the critical
density, the electrons start to behave as a relativistic gas with a polytropic equation of state
with = 43 . Equation (16.49) shows that in this limit the mass becomes independent of
the central density 0 and takes the value

M = MCH = 5.74 2 M! . (16.60)

This is a critical mass above which no stable configuration for a white dwarf can exist, and
it is called the Chandrasekhar limit, as it was derived by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in
1931 3 . It should be noted that the information on the internal composition is contained
entirely in the parameter . For instance, if we set = 2 we find

MCH = 1.435 M! . (16.61)

The fact that a critical mass should exist can also be understood from the following
qualitative considerations. A given configuration of matter will be in equilibrium if the
gradient of pressure is balanced by the gravitational attraction.
In the non relativistic case
5 5
5 M3 dP M3
a) P 3 P 5 6. (16.62)
R dr R
In the ultra-relativistic case
4 4
4 M3 dP M3
b) P 3 P 4 5. (16.63)
R dr R
The gravitational force per unit volume behaves like

Gm(r) M2
. (16.64)
r2 R5
If the star is in equilibrium
dP Gm(r)
= ;
dr r2
in the non-relativistic case the gradient of pressure (16.62) and the gravitational force (16.64)
depend on the radius to a different power thus, for a given value of the mass, the star can
3
The concept of a limiting mass for white dwarfs was first introduced by Chandrasekhar in a paper
published in 1931: The Maximum Mass of Ideal White Dwarfs, in The Astrophysical Journal, 74 n.1, 81.
The problem was subsequently investigated in a series of papers, and a complete account can be found in
the book Chandrasekhar wrote on the subject in 1939: An introduction to the study of stellar structure,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago Illinois
CHAPTER 16. WHITE DWARFS 245

adjust the radius until the two forces are equal. Conversely, in the ultra-relativistic case the
gradient of pressure (16.63) and the gravitational force (16.64) have the same dependence
on the radius, and therefore the equilibrium is possible only for one value of the mass, i.e.
for the critical mass. If M > MCH the gravitational attraction exceeds the gradient of
pressure and stable configurations are no longer possible.
Although the existence of a critical mass for white dwarfs seems an obvious consequence
of the theory today, it was not accepted when Chandrasekhar found it. The prejudice at
that time was that white dwarfs do represent the final state of a star, and that they could
have any mass (neutron stars were discovered much later in 1965). The famous astronomer
Sir Arthur Eddington was the strongest opponent to the new theory, and called it a stellar
buffonery. Nobody at that time gave to Chandrasekhar any public support, although a
few, as for example Rosenfeld, told him in private that they thought his result was correct
4
.
It should be stressed that this limit is a static limit, i.e. it refers only to the equilibrium
configuration. It says that stars with a mass exceeding the critical mass cannot exist. How-
ever, even if a star is in equilibrium it may become unstable against small perturbations. In
this case we would call it a dynamical instability.
A second point which should be noted is that in the derivation of the critical mass general
relativity plays no role. The basic ingredients are special relativity and the Fermi-Dirac
statistics.

4
An interesting account of the controversy between Eddington and Chandrasekhar on white dwarfs max-
imum mass can be found in the book Chandra: a biography of S. Chandrasekhar, University of Chicago
Press 1991