Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysical-fluid-dynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/paper-1/1/a/solution
Past exam of the astrophysical fluid dynamics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 1 1 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
For an ideal gas of fixed composition, the central temperature satisfies . Keeping fixed therefore requires , rather than keeping the polytropic constant fixed. Substitution in the Lane-Emden equation scalings givesConsequently the homologous polytropes at fixed central temperature obeyThe polytropic index and mean particle mass must be common to this homologous sequence: varying either changes the dimensionless structural coefficient. The fixed-central-temperature assumption is the idealization being used here, rather than a universal property of real stars.
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