Finite-temperature electron equation of state
ID: finite-temperature-electron-equation-of-state
Neglecting interactions and thermal pairs, the Fermi-Dirac distribution with kinetic energy determines the Electron contribution to a stellar equation of state. The kinetic chemical potential is fixed by the electron number density, not an independently chosen pressure fraction:The electron kinetic internal energy per volume is . In the nondegenerate limit ; at zero temperature the integrals become the equation of state of a cold electron gas. These are limits of one component and must not be added together as independent electron pressures. When electron-positron thermal pair abundance matters, both charge species must be included, with charge neutrality fixing their net density.
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