A negligible-mass radiative envelope surrounding a core of mass , carrying constant luminosity and having constant opacity, obeys . Neglecting the outer pressure integration constant gives . The gas pressure fraction is constant because , and . Hydrostatic balance gives ; dropping this outer-boundary constant gives the displayed deep-envelope approximation. A positive gas-pressure fraction requires .
For an optically thick alpha disk dominated by gas pressure, vertical hydrostatic equilibrium gives and . The specified opacity therefore scales as . Viscous heating scales as , while radiative diffusion gives . Their balance gives , hence . Fixed and Keplerian rotation yield the displayed law.
The local thermal stability of an accretion disk follows because, at fixed surface density and radius, cooling has logarithmic temperature slope two while heating has slope one. The viscous stability of an accretion disk follows from on the thermal-equilibrium branch. Both conclusions apply within this pressure, opacity and transport closure.
Let , take constant opacity , and prescribe the dynamic viscosity in a Keplerian disk. The pressure supporting the disk may contain both gas pressure and radiation pressure. Combining viscous dissipation and radiative diffusion gives in the vertical mass coordinate of a disk, where . Set , and . With a radiative-zero disk surface, satisfies , . Writing , the density-weighted mean kinematic viscosity is , giving the displayed formula. This calculation does not assume gas-pressure domination: the closure depends on gas pressure while hydrostatic support can be mixed.
McLeod gauge 2026-10-18
A McLeod gauge infers low gas pressure by compressing a trapped gas sample into a calibrated smaller volume.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 42 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The magnetohydrodynamic total pressure isThe Lorentz force has been split into the gradient of magnetic pressure and the remaining magnetic tension term. An appropriate boundary model is impermeable, perfectly conducting stationary cylindrical walls with no initial normal magnetic flux: at . In an inviscid fluid this is a slip condition, not a no-slip condition on or . It also makes the tangential ideal electric field vanish at the walls. Take perturbations periodic in and periodic or Fourier-resolved in ; the wall reaction supplies the normal pressure force without an extra prescribed pressure value.
Write the steady velocity and magnetic field as and . They satisfy both divergence constraints. Their material accelerations have only radial curvature terms, and the steady ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation is identically satisfied because the parallel azimuthal flow and field have cancelling curvature terms. The radial momentum equation isHence the most general such equilibrium isIts gas pressure is ; on a bounded annulus the additive constant can be chosen to keep it positive. Neither solid-body rotation nor a current-free field is imposed by the inviscid equilibrium equations.
For the linear stability calculation, put , , and define . Use axisymmetric normal modes proportional to . Denote the velocity amplitudes by and the magnetic amplitudes in velocity units by . Linearization of the cylindrical momentum equations givesThe linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation and divergence equations areThe curvature terms are essential: although the perturbations have no azimuthal dependence, the cylindrical unit vectors do.
For , . Introduce the radial Lagrangian fluid displacement by . The azimuthal amplitudes reduce toConsequently the radial and vertical equations, combined with the incompressible flow constraint, givewhere the Michael criterion for axisymmetric toroidal-field interchange coefficient isFor , the required single displacement equation is thereforeThe same differential equation holds for , which is a constant multiple of .
Set . Multiplication by and integration by parts with the wall conditions gives the global variational form of the Michael criterion:The denominator is strictly positive for a nonzero displacement, so every mode's is real. If everywhere, no exponentially growing mode exists. Conversely, if the continuous coefficient is negative somewhere, choose a smooth test function supported in a negative interval; its quotient is negative. For sufficiency, let be the positive Sturm-Liouville operator with Dirichlet boundary conditions and let multiply by . The generalized mode equation is equivalent to the compact operator and self-adjoint operator problem . The negative test quotient guarantees a negative eigenvalue and therefore a growing solution . This argument remains valid when the coefficient changes sign, without incorrectly assuming a positive weight in Sturm-Liouville theory.
Thus, for any fixed nonzero vertical wavenumber,Equality is marginal. When , the incompressible flow constraint and both rigid-wall conditions force the radial velocity to vanish, so that special case has no radial interchange mode. When the field vanishes, the coefficient reduces to , recovering the Rayleigh centrifugal stability criterion.
For a Keplerian disk, . If , the toroidal interchange field threshold in a thin Keplerian disk isFor ordinary radial gradients on the scale , the Alfvén speed must therefore be comparable to the orbital speed. A field on the gas pressure scale has in a thin disk, and cannot normally meet this condition. Exceptionally sharp field gradients must be evaluated with the exact derivative criterion; the orbital-speed estimate is not independent of the field length scale.
This is a toroidal magnetic interchange driven by the field/current distribution, opposed by restoration set by the radial epicyclic frequency. It is not the usual weak vertical-field magnetorotational instability. In the vertical-field problem, a nonzero bends magnetic field lines and couples displaced fluid elements, allowing decreasing to supply rotational kinetic energy even when . Here the axisymmetric perturbation has no scalar variation along the purely toroidal background field, and no such weak-field coupling: a sufficiently adverse toroidal-field gradient, rather than merely , is required. Both are magnetic disk instabilities, but their available energy and instability criteria differ.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 46 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Set , so and the prescribed dynamic viscosity is . Keplerian shear and radiative diffusion then giveDifferentiating the second expression, equating it to the first and dividing by givesThis reduction uses the gas-pressure viscosity closure, not an assumption that gas pressure dominates the hydrostatic support.
For , introduce the vertical mass coordinate of a diskLet be the full surface density of a reflection-symmetric disk. The upper surface is at . With , the temperature equation becomesWrite and chooseThe equation reduces exactly to . Midplane symmetry gives , and the zero surface temperature gives . The stipulated unique positive nontrivial dimensionless solution therefore applies at every radius and surface density, with all physical dependence contained in and the mass-coordinate scaling. A zero temperature at the ideal surface does not mean zero escaping flux: can have a finite nonzero surface value.
The required viscosity is the density-weighted mean kinematic viscosity, not an unweighted vertical mean. Since ,Substituting the dimensionless solution gives, with ,For central mass , , so the requested explicit radius and surface-density dependence isThe universal integral need not be evaluated. No separate solution for is needed to find this mean: the mass-coordinate transformation removes it from both the temperature equation and the viscosity integral. The result is the gas-pressure viscosity closure with mixed pressure support.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 46 2 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
In the limiting model with negligible gas pressure, . Its gradient is . Combining radiative diffusion and hydrostatic equilibrium givesBecause and are constant with height at the fixed disk radius,Equating this to the viscous heating rate forcesThis proves constant viscosity in radiation-supported vertical balance. It fixes the local effective dynamic viscosity uniquely, independent of height, surface density and radius within this ideal limiting model. It does not fix a height-independent kinematic viscosity: still depends on the local mass density.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 46 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The vertical hydrostatic equilibrium equation balances the gradient of the total pressure against gravity. In a thin disk with Keplerian rotation, expanding the central gravitational field about the midplane gives vertical acceleration , so . Disk self-gravity is neglected in this approximation.
The flux-gradient equation is local thermal balance: the upward radiative flux increases with height because differential rotation dissipates energy. For a Newtonian effective dynamic viscosity , the volumetric heating rate is , which becomes for Keplerian rotation. The symbol here is dynamic viscosity, not kinematic viscosity; the latter is .
The radiative diffusion equation applies to an optically thick medium in local thermodynamic equilibrium. Its diffusion coefficient is , and the equilibrium radiation energy density is . HenceThe minus sign means energy flows down the temperature gradient. Here is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, the opacity per unit mass, and the speed of light. Constant Thomson scattering opacity is the adopted transport approximation; local thermodynamic equilibrium is an additional assumption behind the radiation equation of state.
Finally the equation of state adds ideal gas gas pressure and isotropic radiation pressure . The Boltzmann constant is , and is the mean mass per gas particle. Both contributions supply the total pressure entering vertical hydrostatic equilibrium.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 73 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The first equation is vertical hydrostatic equilibrium: the upward pressure gradient balances the central mass's vertical gravitational force. For , the point-mass acceleration is , where Keplerian rotation gives . The disc's self-gravity and vertical inertia are neglected.
The second equation is local thermal balance. The divergence of the vertical radiative flux equals viscous dissipation. In the convention of this alpha disk, , and the dominant Keplerian shear has . ThereforeThe radiative flux increases from zero at the symmetric midplane to a positive outgoing value at the upper surface. Radial heat transport, thermal advection and rapid storage of thermal energy are excluded from this local balance.
The third equation is radiative diffusion, equivalentlyIt applies to optically thick material, with the opacity per unit mass and the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. Here constant electron-scattering opacity represents Thomson scattering; the formula uses a diffusive, nearly thermal radiation field. Positive upward flux requires temperature to decrease upwards.
The final equation is the ideal gas pressure law, with mean molecular weight in proton-mass units. Writing gives . The pressure is gas pressure because radiation pressure is assumed negligible. The four equations express vertical support, local heating balance, diffusive cooling and the gas equation of state.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 71 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Consider a small outward displacement of a fluid element. It adjusts to the ambient pressure while retaining its specific entropy and stellar composition, so an adiabatic process gives . Its excess mass density over the new surroundings is, to first order,Restoring buoyancy requires this bracket to be positive. With , the Schwarzschild criterion is thereforeEquality is neutral stability. For uniform mean molecular weight, the ideal gas law gives . Since hydrostatic equilibrium pressure decreases outward, the inequality is equivalent to . Dividing the radiative diffusion in a star and hydrostatic equilibrium stellar structure equations givesThis is the stellar radiative temperature gradient test for stellar convective stability.
In the thin upper stellar atmosphere take , and use gas pressure dominance. The prescribed opacity becomes . Dividing the two structure equations then yieldsAt zero optical depth, the atmospheric boundary has and negligible gas pressure. Integrating from that boundary, with , givesTo locate the onset, put . Logarithmic derivative gives , henceThis starts at zero at the outer boundary and increases inward. It first reaches atThe corresponding optical depth is , so the onset lies inside the stellar atmosphere. This is grey-atmosphere convection onset with thirteenth-power opacity.
Let the interior of the fully convective star have , with spatially constant. At its boundary is fixed, so the atmospheric pressure formula givesThe Stefan–Boltzmann law, with , consequently impliesThe ideal gas equation transforms the interior relation intoFor completeness, the mass-radius scaling follows by taking and with . Hydrostatic equilibrium and mass conservation reduce to the Lane-Emden equation , with , . Its fixed dimensionless profile gives and . Eliminating gives , or . Thus at fixed stellar composition. Equating this with the atmospheric expression gives , and henceThis Hayashi relation with thirteenth-power opacity concerns the interior of a fully convective star beneath a thin stellar atmosphere. The coefficient may vary between stars; spatially constant specific entropy does not mean equal specific entropy across the whole sequence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 71 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Outside the emitting layer, take , and . The Kramers' opacity law then reads . Division of the radiative diffusion in a star equation by the stellar hydrostatic equation givesWith the outer pressure constant of integration neglected, integration yieldsSubstitute this into hydrostatic equilibrium:Define . The general antiderivative is . The Kramers radiative-zero envelope around a stellar core sets , givingThis is exact for the idealized boundary as . With a finite outer radius and temperature , instead ; the displayed profile is the deep-envelope approximation when and . Small outer pressure alone does not eliminate this temperature constant of integration.
The specific hydrogen burning rate becomesConsequentlyIts local radial e-folding length is , so burning is concentrated within a small fraction of the stellar core radius. The volume heating is even steeper: . Using the exterior envelope profile to estimate the thin shell's luminosity givesA finite but very extended upper limit changes the factor by . The large exponent makes this correction small and further verifies the hydrogen burning thin-shell approximation. Since and , the integral implies . HenceThis is the fixed-radius-core shell-burning luminosity relation. The proportionality coefficient is a thin-shell estimate: luminosity rises from its value beneath the shell to through the emitting layer, so treating it as constant there uses the exterior profile rather than resolving the burning region. The scaling holds while its dimensionless shell structure and stellar composition remain fixed.
For consistency, must provide a hot hydrogen burning shell while the stellar core remains inert to core helium burning; the radiative envelope mass must be much less than , and must be well inside an extended radiative envelope. At the shell base the gas must remain a nondegenerate gas and dominated by gas pressure, in particular with . The assumed stellar core sequence must genuinely have nearly fixed over the mass interval considered. A cold helium stellar core supported by a nonrelativistic degenerate electron gas instead has the mass-radius law from part (a), so substituting that law would describe a different model and change the luminosity exponent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 66 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use radiative homology with proton-proton burning and inverse-fourth-power opacity, retaining the composition factors throughout. To distinguish the stellar radius from the stellar gas constant, write them as and . With gas pressure alone, introduce the scale factorsThe ideal gas equation gives , and . Substitution into hydrostatic equilibrium and mass conservation givesso and .
Set . The radiative diffusion in a star equation, with the stipulated opacity, becomesHere . ThusThe luminosity equation follows from the specific heating rate of the Proton–proton chain:ConsequentlyThese give all four dimensionless stellar structure equations with their numerical coefficients.
The stellar homology assumption means the dimensionless profiles are shared across the models, not merely that an individual model can be written in dimensionless coordinates. The displayed equations then require and to be fixed. Holding the universal constants and fixed givesEquating the two cancels and yields . Therefore the radius and mass-luminosity relation areThe mass-independent radius is a consequence of the particular heating and opacity exponents in this model; it is not a general radius law for main-sequence stars.
Initially is the same for all stars. The adopted mean molecular weight also has the same initial value, neglecting its small direct dependence on . Thus . At fixed luminosity, the Stefan–Boltzmann law givesThe stars compared here can have different masses; the luminosity law adjusts the mass to keep fixed.
For the evolution, take the stellar mass as constant and maintain homogeneous composition. The available energy in the remaining hydrogen is , so conservation of energy in the nuclear-powered model givesThis includes the entire mixed hydrogen reservoir, not just the mass in a central burning region.
To determine the turnoff mass of a homogeneously mixed proton-proton-burning population, write the luminosity law as , whereSeparating variables, the time to evolve from to isFor a common and , this integral is a positive finite constant independent of . It follows that the turning-off stars satisfyThe integration retains the evolving luminosity and mean molecular weight; replacing by its initial value is unnecessary.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 69 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the standard uniform-density incompressible flow version of ideal magnetohydrodynamics, in which and pressure enforces that constraint. The finite- compressible adiabatic pressure equation is replaced by this pressure constraint. The consequences of retaining that cover-sheet equation literally as an additional condition are given below.
Write , , and , where is the toroidal Alfvén velocity. The azimuthal velocity is , while the Alfvén velocity vector is . Both solenoidal constraints hold automatically. Since there is no meridional flow, the azimuthal magnetohydrodynamic momentum equation and ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation reduce toDifferentiating the traveling arguments verifies both equations for arbitrary smooth , and . In particular, no condition is needed.
The remaining force balance is essential. Define the total pressure per unit mass, including the gravitational potential, byThe radial acceleration is , and magnetic curvature tension contributes . The radial and axial momentum equations are consequentlyThey are compatible if and only ifThis is the pressure compatibility of nonlinear torsional Alfvén profiles. It is also sufficient locally: when is independent of , chooseA stationary axisymmetric satisfying the Poisson equation can be absorbed in this pressure. Gravity need not vanish. If the axis is included, smoothness requires and a regular axial field; and smooth even give the usual regular extension. The pressure constant may be chosen to make positive on a bounded region where the other terms are bounded.
The compatible profiles have the following interpretation. At a cylinder with , the variables and are independent as vary. Compatibility reads . If both profiles are nonzero, division gives , independent of both traveling arguments. Thereforelocally on such a region. Alternatively, one profile vanishes identically and the other is unrestricted. Choosing a point where one profile is nonzero shows that a nontrivial opposite profile obeys the same linear ordinary differential equation everywhere on a connected axial interval, so isolated zeros do not create additional overlapping branches.
If , a pure profile travels towards negative , and a pure profile towards positive , each at the local Alfvén speed . Their velocity and toroidal-field perturbations have equal magnitudes, with respectively the same or opposite signs. They are finite-amplitude torsional Alfvén waves. For a single profile, centrifugal force and magnetic curvature tension cancel, leaving spatially constant ; gas pressure compensates the varying magnetic pressure. The waveform is transported without axial steepening. Different cylinder speeds shear its phase radially, magnetohydrodynamic phase mixing.
At linear order both wave families may be superposed, since their interaction product is second order in amplitude. Two arbitrary opposing profiles cannot simply be superposed at finite amplitude: their product would generate an axial variation in the radial force imbalance, incompatible with purely azimuthal velocity. The exponential pair is a formal exception, but is unbounded in an axial direction when . If both profiles must be bounded on the whole axial line, , so and describe a steady rotating, twisted-field equilibrium. Their pressure gradient balances the remaining centrifugal and magnetic curvature forces. At there is no propagation; the condition is just , giving additional steady profiles. These cases exhaust the local possibilities under the stated ansatz and domain qualifications.
There is a closure distinction in the wording. Incompressible flow is the formal infinite-sound-speed limit, not the simultaneous imposition of finite- adiabatic compression and an independently fixed density; see Ogilvie's discussion of simplified fluid models, section 2.8. If the cover-sheet pressure equation is nevertheless imposed in addition, then axisymmetry and purely azimuthal motion give . In addition to , the necessary and sufficient local pressure-gradient conditions, with stationary , areThey follow by requiring the gradients and to be time independent; the remaining spatially uniform pressure variation is removed by .
For a single traveling profile with , these extra conditions require its square to be affine in its traveling argument, or , with constant across a connected radial region. Smooth bounded profiles on the entire axial line then have and are steady. For two nonzero exponential profiles the extra conditions force . Thus arbitrary finite-amplitude traveling pulses are valid for the intended incompressible pressure model, but not generally for the overconstrained finite- closure. The force compatibility derived above makes the distinction explicit.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 70 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Outside the thin burning shell, the enclosed mass and luminosity are approximately and . Divide the hydrostatic pressure support equation by radiative diffusion in a star with constant opacity:In the constant-opacity radiative-zero giant envelope approximation, the outer pressure and temperature constants are negligible. Integration givesThe radiation pressure is , so the gas pressure fraction is constant and satisfies . Thus alsoThe physical branch has positive gas pressure, hence , the constant-opacity Eddington luminosity for the core mass.
Using the gas part of the equation of state, define , so . Substitution into hydrostatic balance givesConsequently, in the same deep-envelope radiative-zero approximation,Precisely, a finite outer matching point gives . The displayed profile neglects that additive outer-boundary constant; it is appropriate near a compact core when the envelope extends to much smaller temperatures.
To estimate the thin-shell luminosity, write , so . The hydrogen-layer heating law givesThis steep radial dependence strongly concentrates the emission near . Continuing the outer profile across the thin emitting layer and taking a distant upper limit givesThe same radiative coefficient implies . Hence the high-power shell burning in a constant-opacity giant envelope satisfiesTaking the cube root gives the requested form,Thus contains only the specified opacity and heating normalizations and physical constants. The explicit coefficient uses the outer radiative profile as a thin-shell estimate; resolving the variation of within the emitting layer can change that coefficient. Also depends on , so the radiation-pressure-inclusive relation is implicit, not a pure explicit eighth-power core-mass law with independently fixed .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 71 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use a characteristic midplane temperature , density and disk scale height . For an ideal gas of fixed composition, dominant gas pressure gives , where is the sound speed. Vertical hydrostatic equilibrium and the alpha disk prescription giveNumerical factors in the vertical averaging do not affect the exponents. The stipulated opacity becomesFor an optically thick, radiatively efficient disk, radiative diffusion gives a cooling rate per unit area proportional to . The viscous heating rate is proportional to . ThusEquating heating and cooling gives , soAt fixed and central mass, . Therefore the gas-pressure alpha disk with inverse-density opacity satisfies
For thermal stability of an accretion disk, perturb at fixed and , since the thermal adjustment is faster than radial mass redistribution. The logarithmic heating and cooling slopes are respectively one and two. At equilibrium, a fractional temperature increase therefore makes the excess heating decrease, and the disk cools back. Thus the local thermal equilibrium is stable within the assumed gas-pressure, radiative-diffusion closure.
For viscous stability of an accretion disk, use the thermally equilibrated relation between viscosity and surface density. It givesLocally freezing the background radius in the Keplerian viscous diffusion equation, a short radial Fourier mode has growth rate . Density enhancements diffuse rather than grow, so the disk is locally viscously stable as well.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 321 1 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The four equations describe, respectively, vertical hydrostatic equilibrium in the central object's gravity, the vertical divergence of radiative flux balancing viscous dissipation, optically thick radiative diffusion, and the equation of state combining ideal gas gas pressure with radiation pressure. Here is dynamic viscosity, not the mean molecular weight ; is the opacity, the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, and the local orbital frequency.
In the radiation-pressure limit, , so radiative diffusion givesCompare this with vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Wherever ,At fixed radius, constant opacity makes . The viscous dissipation equation therefore yieldsindependent of height within the optically thick radiation-supported layer. The result assumes the supplied gravity, heating and diffusion equations; optically thin surface corrections are outside that approximation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 317 3 iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Take the gas pressure to vanish at the exterior boundary and the atmosphere to be thin enough that surface gravity of a star is constant. With constant electron-scattering opacity, negligible radiative acceleration, and hydrostatic equilibrium in optical depth,If the radiative force is retained, for gas pressure, and the same result holds with the constant positive effective gravity . A nonzero exterior gas pressure instead gives . Total gas-plus-radiation pressure has the nonzero radiative surface term from part (ii), so the advertised exact formula presumes gas pressure with zero exterior gas pressure.