Paper 3, Section II, B
The pressure support equation for stars is
where is the density, is the pressure, is the radial distance, and is Newton's constant.
(a) What two boundary conditions should we impose on the above equation for it to describe a star?
(b) By assuming a polytropic equation of state,
where is a constant, derive the Lane-Emden equation
where , with the density at the centre of the star, and , for some that you should determine.
(c) Show that the mass of a polytropic star is
where and is the value of at the surface of the star.
(d) Derive the following relation between the mass, , and radius, , of a polytropic star
where you should determine the constant . What type of star does the polytrope represent and what is the significance of the mass being constant for this star?