Mass-averaged temperature maximum in a partially degenerate polytrope

ID: mass-averaged-temperature-maximum-in-a-partially-degenerate-polytrope

For a homologous stellar polytrope of index , take and zero surface pressure. The stellar virial theorem, with , gives
The normalized density profile fixes independently of mass and radius at fixed composition. Writing shows that its maximum is , at . Below this radius contraction increases the fraction of support provided by electron degeneracy pressure and lowers the thermal temperature. A fixed normalized profile also fixes the ratio of central to mass-averaged temperature, giving a hydrogen-burning minimum mass.

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