Contraction-limited central temperature ($T_{\max }\propto {\mu }_i{M}^{4/3}$)

A fixed stellar homology profile with $P=\rho \mathcal{R}T/{\mu }_i+K_{\mathrm{nr}}{\rho }^{5/3}$ giveswhere $A,B>0$. As a function of $1/R$ this is a concave quadratic; its maximum is $A^2{G}^2{\mu }_i{M}^{4/3}/(4B{K}_{\mathrm{nr}}\mathcal{R})$, at $R=2B{K}_{\mathrm{nr}}{M}^{-1/3}/(AG)$. At the maximum, the central electron degeneracy pressure and thermal pressure are equal. If this temperature is insufficient for sustained hydrogen burning, the object becomes a brown dwarf. Only the positive-temperature segment represents a physical sequence.

For a homologous stellar polytrope of index $3/2$, take $P=K{\rho }^{5/3}+\mathcal{R}\rho T/\mu$ and zero surface pressure. The stellar virial theorem, with $\Omega =-6G{M}^2/(7R)$, givesThe normalized density profile fixes $A$ independently of mass and radius at fixed composition. Writing ${\overline{T}}_M=\alpha /R-\delta /R^2$ shows that its maximum is ${\alpha }^2/(4\delta )=3\mu G^2{M}^{4/3}/(49\mathcal{R}A)$, at $R=7A{M}^{-1/3}/(3G)$. Below this radius contraction increases the fraction of support provided by electron degeneracy pressure and lowers the thermal temperature. A fixed normalized profile also fixes the ratio of central to mass-averaged temperature, giving a hydrogen-burning minimum mass.