3.I.10D
Part II, 2006
(a) Consider a spherically symmetric star with outer radius , density and pressure . By balancing the gravitational force on a shell at radius against the force due to the pressure gradient, derive the pressure support equation
where . Show that this implies
Suggest appropriate boundary conditions at and , together with a brief justification.
(b) Describe qualitatively the endpoint of stellar evolution for our sun when all its nuclear fuel is spent. Your discussion should briefly cover electron degeneracy pressure and the relevance of stability against inverse beta-decay.
[Note that , where are the masses of the neutron, proton and electron respectively.]