Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-64/1/b/solution

The standard thin-disk dissipation flux, summed over both faces, follows by substituting the Keplerian accretion disk profile into the viscous heating rate:
The Stefan–Boltzmann law gives because there are two emitting faces. Local radiative equilibrium consequently gives the effective-temperature profile of a zero-torque disk
Here is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. The scale is not the temperature exactly at the inner boundary: the zero-torque inner boundary condition makes that formal temperature zero. Maximizing shows that the maximum effective temperature of a zero-torque disk occurs at , with .
At equal central mass and accretion rate, characteristic effective temperatures scale as . Thus, comparing corresponding values of ,
The neutron-star disk is about 180 times hotter. The Planck law and Wien displacement law move its characteristic emission to about 180 times higher frequency, or 180 times shorter wavelength. A white dwarf disk commonly emits in optical and ultraviolet bands, while the hotter neutron star disk can emit in X-rays. Absolute bands require an actual accretion rate; the relative shift follows directly from the stated scaling.

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