Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/2/b/solution
Past exam of the astrophysics course of the University of Oxford 2022 2 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Assume an isolated, bound, nonrotating Newtonian gas cloud, negligible surface pressure, negligible magnetic and radiation stresses, no persistent bulk flow, and a stationary or time-averaged virialized state. The stellar virial theorem then reduces towhere is the total gravitational potential energy. Define the volume-averaged pressure and average gravitational energy density . HenceEquivalently, for a nonrelativistic monatomic gas, the thermal internal energy obeys . This second derivation must not count the thermal motions again as a separate bulk kinetic energy. If the external pressure is , the correct result is ; non-negligible bulk motion adds to the virial theorem. The initial sharp-edged profile need not survive virialization; maintaining that profile hydrostatically to its edge would generally require a surface term.
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