Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-3/9b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 9B Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
Let be the enclosed mass. A spherical shell of thickness has inward gravitational acceleration , so hydrostatic equilibrium requiresWith , these equations reduce toFor a regular central value , the first equation integrates toThe exponential function is strictly positive at every finite , so the pressure and density cannot reach zero at a finite stellar surface. The equations may describe an atmosphere whose density decreases at large radius, but they admit no nontrivial hydrostatic star of finite radius. Therefore
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