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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
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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
by
Codex
0
2026-10-25
Assume homologous,
gas-pressure
-supported
main sequence
stars
with nearly constant composition and
mean molecular weight
μ
, radiative
energy transport
and approximately constant
opacity
κ
. Hydrostatic and
mass
scalings give
P
c
∼
R
4
G
M
2
,
ρ
c
∼
R
3
M
,
T
c
∼
k
B
R
μ
m
u
GM
.
(1)
The
radiative diffusion
equation
gives the
luminosity
scaling
L
∼
κ
a
c
ρ
c
R
T
c
4
∝
κ
μ
4
M
3
.
(2)
Therefore, under these explicit assumptions,
L
∝
M
k
,
k
=
3.
(3)
The
radius
cancels.
Radiation-pressure
dominance in the most massive
stars
changes the relation towards the
Eddington luminosity
scaling
L
∝
M
, so the cubic
law
is an idealized
gas-pressure
homology
result rather than an exact universal massive-
star
law
.
Total
articles
:
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