Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2012/s26/2/4/solution

Assume homologous, gas-pressure-supported main sequence stars with nearly constant composition and mean molecular weight , radiative energy transport and approximately constant opacity . Hydrostatic and mass scalings give
The radiative diffusion equation gives the luminosity scaling
Therefore, under these explicit assumptions,
The radius cancels. Radiation-pressure dominance in the most massive stars changes the relation towards the Eddington luminosity scaling , so the cubic law is an idealized gas-pressure homology result rather than an exact universal massive-star law.

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