Newtonian potential of a point mass Created 2026-09-29 Updated 2026-10-14
The Newtonian potential of a point mass at the origin is
It is the free-space Green function of the Laplacian with the normalization of the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity. Differentiating gives inward gravitational acceleration . With , the normalized Newtonian gravitational potential is ; at it equals .
For a radially outward launch from , conservation of mechanical energy in the fixed-source test particle approximation gives the minimum escape velocity:
At this threshold the speed tends to zero only at infinite separation. The model neglects air resistance, external tidal forces, and general relativity. [ref]
A circular orbit at instead requires tangential speed . Choosing units with gives , , and . A radial launch at speed reaches and returns; the same speed directed tangentially gives a circular orbit. [ref]
Figure 1.
Energy balance and outward radial speeds below, at, and above escape
. Left: at the escape velocity, positive kinetic energy exactly balances negative Newtonian gravitational potential energy. Right: radial launches at normalized speeds , , and respectively turn at , approach zero speed at infinity, and retain a positive limiting speed. The plotted trajectories use a fixed source and the test particle approximation. Details.
A liquid in rigid rotation about a vertical axis is at rest in its rotating reference frame. Constant surface pressure makes constant along the free surface, giving the displayed paraboloid. Comparing with gives the focal length . The result assumes uniform gravitational acceleration, a vertical rotation axis and negligible surface-tension corrections. It explains how a rotating liquid can form a reflecting surface or a mould for a mirror.
A particle of mass constrained to the cone is joined through the apex by a light inextensible ideal string to a hanging particle of mass . The cylindrical radius is and gravitational acceleration is . If the total ideal string length is , the second particle has vertical coordinate . The ideal string and normal reaction exert no azimuthal force, so conservation of angular momentum gives .
The first particle has kinetic energy , while the second has kinetic energy . Their combined gravitational potential energy is plus a constant. Hence conservation of energy gives the displayed equation, with effective potential . For , is strictly convex and has its unique minimum at . The energy level has two radial turning points unless the motion is a circular orbit at that minimum.
The model maintains a mechanical constraint on the surface. For unilateral contact with one side of the cone, a normal reaction computed with a fixed outward sign must also have the physically allowed sign. A finite length of ideal string additionally restricts before the hanging particle reaches the hole.
Let increase upwards and let denote the downward gravitational acceleration. The environment obeys hydrostatic equilibrium, . Displace a small parcel by while it remains in pressure balance with its surroundings and exchanges negligible heat. For fixed composition and adiabatic index , its density change at constant specific entropy satisfies . At the displaced position, its density excess over the environment is therefore
The buoyancy acceleration is . Hence
Stability requires , equivalently
An upward-displaced parcel is then denser than its surroundings and falls back; a downward-displaced parcel is lighter and rises. Equality gives neutral stability in this parcel model. For a perfect gas with constant composition, gives , so a rising specific entropy is stable. This is the parcel form of the Schwarzschild criterion. Rapid pressure equilibration, negligible heat diffusion during displacement and no composition-driven buoyancy are the assumptions behind this test.
Assume a constant downward gravitational acceleration , constant composition, and an ideal gas law , where is the gas constant per unit mass. Here is the unified atomic mass unit; this convention makes the specified mean molecular weight dimensionless. Hydrostatic equilibrium gives
Integrating from sea level yields
Dividing by the temperature ratio gives the hydrostatic atmosphere with a constant temperature lapse rate:
The model requires and is used here only within the troposphere.
Convert the atmospheric lapse rate to . At , . With , , and , the density exponent is . Hence
The mass density is therefore approximately one third of its sea-level value in this model.
Following a parcel. Let be a fluid pathline, with . The multivariable chain rule gives the material derivative,
The first term measures change at fixed position; the advection term accounts for the parcel moving through spatial gradients. The derivative is also called the Lagrangian derivative.
The forces on a parcel. A material volume has mass . The pressure forces on its boundary sum to , while the gravitational acceleration is . Newton's second law therefore gives the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid,
This neglects viscosity and other body forces. The left side is the parcel's acceleration, not just the time derivative at a fixed spatial location.
Bernoulli conservation. The claimed streamline result needs steady flow and a barotropic fluid, , or an equivalent enthalpy relation along each isentropic streamline. These hypotheses are necessary; the unsteady Euler equation alone does not imply the stated conservation law. Define the barotropic enthalpy function
Dot the steady Euler equation with , using . This gives
Thus the Bernoulli function is
Every term has units of energy per mass, . Different streamlines can have different constants.
The spherical accretion equation. Write the inward speed as , so the velocity vector is and the positive mass accretion rate is
Assume a prescribed central potential and negligible gas self-gravity. The steady radial Euler equation is
For a barotropic equation of state, , with . Eliminate the density derivative to obtain
A smooth sonic point requires the right side to vanish where , hence
For a nonisothermal gas this is an implicit relation involving the local sound speed. In the isothermal case is constant and this is the Bondi sonic point.
The isothermal integral. For , choose the enthalpy reference so that . The reservoir is at rest at infinity and , making its Bernoulli constant zero. Thus
or
The logarithm has a dimensionless argument. Constant temperature during compression generally requires heat removal, so this is Isothermal Bondi accretion, rather than adiabatic accretion with .
The critical accretion rate. Select the smooth reservoir-connected transonic branch. Evaluate the last relation at and :
Mass conservation then gives the isothermal Bondi accretion rate,
The units are . Equivalently , with .
The inner-boundary selection of isothermal Bondi flow is important: a standard absorbing accretor inside the sonic radius selects this critical solution. The steady equations and alone also admit subcritical subsonic branches supported by a different inner boundary; they do not by themselves fix a unique rate. The usual answer presumes transonic capture.
Figure 1.
Original numerical transonic isothermal accretion profiles, normalized by the sonic radius and outer density; the speed becomes supersonic inside the sonic point
. Details.
Hydrostatic equilibrium with self-gravity. A resting fluid obeys . Spherical symmetry and the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity give
Eliminate the Newtonian gravitational potential derivative to obtain
Equivalently, the shell theorem gives and , which leads to the same hydrostatic equilibrium equation.
A uniform-density liquid. With constant , . There is no central point mass, so the interior gravitational acceleration magnitude is . Thus
Use at a vacuum boundary, neglecting surface tension. The uniform-density planetary pressure profile is
The central value can also be written
It has units pascals and decreases smoothly from its maximum at the centre to zero at the surface.
An isothermal gas. Here is the constant isothermal sound speed, with . Try , so . The two sides of the equilibrium equation become
Thus , giving the singular isothermal sphere,
This does not describe a finite gaseous sphere in vacuum. Both pressure and mass density diverge at the centre, and for every finite outer radius , so it cannot meet there. Extending it to infinity removes the finite-radius pressure jump but makes the total mass infinite. It is useful as an idealized profile over an intermediate radial range, or as a truncated model with nonzero external pressure. The vacuum boundary obstruction for an isothermal sphere also applies to the regular, nonsingular isothermal solution; removing the central singularity does not produce a finite vacuum surface.
Steady outflow. In the wind calculation, take the central mass to be fixed and neglect the wind's own self-gravity. Constant mass flow rate and the isothermal equation of state give
The steady radial Euler equation is
Substituting the density derivative gives
This is the isothermal Parker wind equation. A smooth sonic point requires both sides to vanish when , so
Maintaining constant temperature during expansion generally requires heat input; it is an isothermal model, not the adiabatic blast-wave model of Question 5.
The escaping branch at large radius. Integrate the wind equation, using dimensionless logarithm arguments:
Set and . Then
For the accelerating transonic branch, , which fixes . At on its supersonic branch, and is smaller than . Consequently
A first correction makes the ordering explicit:
This is the large-radius asymptotics of an isothermal Parker wind. The leading expression also holds for other supersonic branches with finite .
The source implicitly selects an escaping wind. Positive steady outward flow alone does not determine that branch: a subsonic isothermal breeze also satisfies the differential equation. Its limit gives , hence and . Such a breeze needs nonzero pressure at infinity. Selecting a regular outflow from a subsonic base into vanishing ambient pressure instead gives the accelerating transonic wind used above.
Figure 1.
Original numerical branches of the integrated isothermal wind equation, showing the escaping wind, its logarithmic asymptote, and a pressure-confined subsonic breeze
. Details.
The asymptotic speed has the same units as ; the logarithm is dimensionless. Its unlimited growth is a formal feature of indefinite isothermal heating and a prescribed point-mass potential. Real heating, surrounding pressure, and eventually the neglected wind mass limit that extrapolation.
Set and . Then and the equation from part (a) becomes
With , the coefficients cancel, giving the isothermal Lane-Emden equation
The regular central boundary conditions are
The first makes the central mass density equal to . The second follows from smooth spherical symmetry and the vanishing central gravitational acceleration; a preferred radial slope at the origin would be singular. Substitution of a regular power series gives
which supplies nonsingular starting data for numerical integration. The central conditions select the regular solution, not the singular isothermal sphere.
The buoyancy frequency, also called the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, is the angular frequency of a small vertical displacement restored by buoyancy in a stably stratified fluid. Take upward, gravitational acceleration , and a background in hydrostatic equilibrium,
Displace a small gas element upward by , sufficiently slowly for its pressure to match its surroundings but without heat exchange. For this adiabatic process, is constant along the element's motion, so its mass density changes by . The surrounding mass density changes by . The element's excess mass density is consequently
Its acceleration is . Thus
For a gas of fixed composition obeying the ideal gas law, . The adiabatic buoyancy frequency of an ideal gas is therefore
where is the specific heat capacity at constant pressure, and is the specific gas constant. Here has units ; is an angular frequency, not a cyclic frequency. Positive gives simple harmonic motion, negative gives convective instability, and is marginal. The temperature form assumes fixed composition; the preceding density form is more general.
Treat the cylinder as infinitely long, with a vacuum exterior and no surface tension. Let be its gravitational potential. Integrating the gravitational Poisson equation over a coaxial cylinder of radius and length , then applying the divergence theorem, gives
Thus the inward gravitational acceleration is . Hydrostatic equilibrium requires
Impose zero pressure on the free surface, , and integrate inward:
This is the hydrostatic self-gravitating incompressible cylinder. Its central pressure is , and the units of the expression are . A nonzero external pressure would add that constant to .
The Earth-Moon pair is a gravitationally bound system, so its separation does not obey . The Hubble flow describes the motion of the approximately homogeneous cosmological matter distribution; it is not a compulsory extra velocity assigned to the members of every local orbit. Thus the numerical proximity of the counterfactual rate to is not evidence for that explanation.
The observed recession arises principally from tidal dissipation. The Earth rotates faster than the Moon orbits, so the displaced tidal response transfers angular momentum from the Earth's spin into the lunar orbit. For a nearly circular orbit, increasing orbital angular momentum increases its size. A model of this effect must include the appropriate tidal response, rather than add a universal Hubble flow recession.
A residual local cosmological tidal acceleration can exist, but its background scale is , not an imposed first-order secular drift . At ,
using . The cosmological scale is about of the mutual gravitational acceleration. Its detailed coefficient depends on how the local system is embedded in the cosmological background. Cosmological expansion can be neglected for the lunar recession calculation at the stated precision; this conclusion follows from binding and the tiny residual local cosmological tidal acceleration, rather than from comparing two recession speeds.
Steven Shapin's challenge is persuasive as a criticism of a single, uniform founding event; it is much less persuasive if read as denying substantial changes in knowledge. His opening provocation introduces an argument about the diversity of early modern practices, purposes and standards. It should be assessed as a historical interpretation, rather than treated as a literal assertion that nothing happened. The useful question is whether the Scientific Revolution names an explanatory pattern or imposes an artificial unity on unlike developments.[ref]
There is a strong case for retaining the category in a qualified form. Compare Aristotle's programme of explaining natural motion through the nature of bodies and different kinds of cause with Isaac Newton's organization of classical mechanics around definitions, Newton's laws of motion and mathematical consequences of specified forces. Newton's law of universal gravitation brought terrestrial falling bodies and planetary motion into one quantitative framework. That changed both the content of explanations and the problems they could solve: the same relation could constrain orbits, lunar motion and terrestrial gravitational acceleration. This is a substantial transformation even though Newtonian mechanics was later revised.[ref][ref]
Instrumentation likewise altered what could count as evidence. Robert Boyle's air pump attached a transparent receiver to a mechanical means of removing air. Its value was not merely that an observer saw an unusual event. Successive operations could vary the condition of the enclosed gas, while observers compared such effects as the expansion of a partly inflated bladder and changes in combustion or animal breathing. The apparatus made contrasts that ordinary unaided observation could not easily produce. Yet its results depended on the quality of seals, the operator's skill and decisions about whether a trial had worked. Experiment was an organized achievement rather than nature speaking without mediation.[ref]
The difficulty for an unqualified revolution narrative is that these changes did not have one method. Francis Bacon emphasized the disciplined ordering of instances and cautioned against premature generalization. Galileo Galilei deliberately reasoned about idealized motion, then connected its mathematical relations to particular trials. Isaac Newton built geometrical arguments concerning forces and used astronomical phenomena to select their application. These are related challenges to inherited authority, but not interchangeable versions of a universal method introduced on one date. Nor does a successful mathematical treatment of planetary motion establish an equally sudden transformation of all biology or medical practice.[ref][ref][ref]
Continuities also matter. Euclid's Elements furnished a demonstrative tradition that early modern authors could adapt rather than invent. Existing astronomy supplied observations and problems without which a new celestial mechanics would have had little to explain. The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton itself is predominantly geometrical in presentation: identifying modernity solely with replacement of geometry by symbolic calculus would misdescribe a central work of the supposed revolution. Equally, an investigator's religious commitments need not have disappeared for mathematical or experimental work to develop. The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton's General Scholium combines claims about the limits of physical explanation with natural theology.[ref][ref]
These qualifications expose a geographical and social selection problem. If the historian defines the event by a few successful European texts in astronomy and classical mechanics, then concludes that Europe suddenly acquired the scientific mentality, the selection has already determined much of the result. Robert Boyle's apparatus depended on skilled construction and operation; printed demonstrations depended on readers able to understand and assess them. A history of disembodied ideas misses the work that made claims credible. Conversely, locating that work in a social setting does not invalidate the measured relationships or make every contemporary theory equally successful.
The Scientific Revolution is defensible as a retrospective name for interconnected, uneven transformations, especially in astronomy, classical mechanics and experimental practice. It is misleading as a single moment when a universal scientific essence replaced ignorance. Steven Shapin's provocation improves the category by forcing its boundaries and assumptions into view. Abandoning the capitalized label is optional; abandoning the expectation of one origin, one method and one uniformly affected society is the more important historical correction.
Wave dispersion means that different frequencies propagate with different phase velocities, so a wave packet generally changes shape. Equivalently the dispersion relation is not proportional to over the relevant band. Three natural examples are the colour separation in a rainbow, where the refractive index of water depends on wavelength; deep-water surface gravity waves, for which and long waves have larger phase velocity; and capillary waves, whose short-wave limit is and whose shorter waves have larger phase velocity. Here is gravitational acceleration, is surface tension, and is fluid mass density, with positive and negligible viscosity.
A distinct application is an optical prism spectrometer: the wavelength-dependent refractive index produces different refraction angles, separating spectral components for measurement. This exploits wave dispersion deliberately.
Write , let be the scale factor, the Hubble parameter, and the asymptotic expansion rate for the positive cosmological constant. The continuity equation for a homogeneous Hubble flow gives . Isotropy and the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity give a relative acceleration proportional to displacement from any chosen origin:
This uses the local relative gravitational acceleration, rather than trying to sum an absolutely convergent potential over an infinite universe. A fluid element with constant comoving coordinate has . The spatially uniform pressure has no gradient, so the Euler equations for an inviscid fluid give
Multiply by and integrate. With , the resulting first integral is
For an expanding branch that reaches arbitrarily large , ; more precisely, and the correction to is integrable. Therefore . Positive alone does not make every initially expanding branch escape: sufficiently large positive can give a turning point or a limiting static radius. Under the stated vacuum-dominance inequalities at , however, and remain small compared with for the future expanding branch, and is the required approximation.
To derive the linear cosmological density perturbation equation, write and , where is the peculiar velocity. At fixed , the linearized continuity equation, Euler equations for an inviscid fluid and perturbation Poisson equation are
Taking a divergence of the second equation and differentiating the first eliminates the peculiar velocity. For a Fourier mode of comoving wavenumber , this gives
The adiabatic sound speed for the four-thirds polytropic equation of state is , hence . Both the restoring pressure term and the gravitational term are proportional to . Thus, in the exponential approximation,
The sign of is the Jeans instability distinction, but exponential expansion makes the total subsequent amplification finite.
Remove Hubble friction by setting . The standard-form equation is
Where and , the WKB approximation gives
Where , put ; away from a turning point the corresponding WKB approximation is
For , never vanishes. The exponential integral can be evaluated explicitly:
Differentiate this expression, using , to verify it. Early on, if coefficients change little over the interval considered, the two local exponents for are : one increases and one decreases. At late times and the displayed integral is . The nominally growing WKB approximation branch of therefore becomes a constant branch of , while the other branch decays like . The WKB approximation is not automatically accurate at all intermediate times; its stated derivative criterion must be checked.
For , the early frozen-coefficient exponents are . There are damped oscillations if , a repeated-root solution at equality, and two real decaying local branches if . In the oscillatory case vanishes at : the ordinary WKB approximation breaks down there, and a turning-point connection is needed. After that transition the solutions again approach a constant or decay. A positive pressure-minus-gravity restoring term does not imply indefinitely continuing oscillation; its physical frequency is redshifted away.
The limiting conclusion does not depend on the accuracy of WKB approximation. With , the equation for is
For its basis is , the Bessel functions of the first kind and Bessel functions of the second kind. For use , the Modified Bessel functions of the first kind and modified Bessel functions of the second kind. Their small- branches are proportional to and . Multiplication by gives the decaying and constant branches respectively. At the exact solution is . Thus Bessel density modes during exponential expansion prove
The same conclusion holds in the full four-thirds perturbation equation on an exponentially escaping background: . Its integrated equation has an absolutely integrable Volterra kernel, bounded by a constant times . The Gronwall inequality first bounds ; then is integrable and is integrable. A finite limiting amplitude follows without setting exactly constant. This argument requires positive and the escaping branch; it is not a claim about or recollapse.
The requested strict increase of that limit needs an initial-velocity qualification. For ,
If and , this identity prevents a first loss of positivity and makes the amplitude strictly increase for . Integrating it twice gives
This is monotone Jeans growth with positive cosmological constant. Without the extra initial condition the printed assertion is false: is positive at and tends to zero. An arbitrarily small multiple remains an infinitesimal linear cosmological density perturbation, so linearity does not remove the counterexample.
For the spherical Abel deprojection, put and . Then and . Consequently the integral appearing in the reconstruction of is
Differentiate before substituting the numerical value of :
For the projected second stellar velocity moment, . The identical substitution in isotropic stellar pressure deprojection gives
For completeness, setting yields , where is the Euler beta function. The Gamma function recurrence gives and . This also checks the normalization of the power-law spherical projection kernel.
The radial Jeans equation is . Since , division by the tracer number density gives
Writing , the total gravitational acceleration is therefore
To find all gravitating mass density, apply the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity, with the same sign convention:
Equivalently, the enclosed mass is , and . The inferred total mass is and its relative potential is , a Plummer model. The tracer number density has a different radial exponent from this total mass density. One must not multiply by an arbitrary stellar mass and identify it with all matter: the inferred field can include unobserved stars, gas, and dark matter.
The pressure tensor has Cartesian components . With zero mean velocity and an isotropic galactic distribution function, off-diagonal components vanish by reflection symmetry and diagonal components are equal by rotational symmetry. Therefore
Here is a tracer number-weighted random-motion stress, rather than thermodynamic pressure per volume. Its tensor divergence is . The time-independent, nonstreaming Jeans equation consequently reduces to
The gravitational acceleration convention is : this differs by a sign from the usual Newtonian gravitational potential .
Let measure distance along the line of sight. Spherical density projection gives
Because isotropy makes the local second stellar velocity moment along every line of sight equal to , and because there is no streaming motion, the projected moment is
This is the forward relation for isotropic stellar pressure deprojection.
Both inversions follow from one Abel transform calculation. Write and , so . Compose the transforms, using Tonelli's theorem for nonnegative densities, or absolute convergence for signed profiles:
Assume sufficient decay to make these integrals finite and sufficient regularity for the last derivative. Then . Setting gives the spherical Abel deprojection
Replacing by and by proves
These are the requested expressions, with . The composed-transform argument avoids an invalid separate differentiation of a divergent lower-end kernel.
Use gravitational acceleration . Through the plane with upward unit normal, the signed gravitational flux per unit area of the point mass is
Thus its downward flux magnitude is . Subtracting a constant from the gravitational potential does not change this flux.
The Kuzmin reflection method gives the even relative potential . It is harmonic above and below the plane because the corresponding point masses lie outside the respective half-spaces. At the plane the derivative jump is
Integrating the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity through a thin layer, with the Dirac delta, equates this jump to . Therefore
This is a Kuzmin disk. As a check, its total mass is .
Replace the point mass by and superpose the Kuzmin disks. Linearity of the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity gives, whenever the force integral converges,
Both choices of potential reference give this same surface density. If the unreferenced potential diverges, perform the reference subtraction in each component before taking the integral limit; the force and the surface density may still be finite.
In a slender symmetric viscous sheet, the two broad faces have zero tangential traction. A cross-thickness variation of on the thickness scale would produce leading shear , whereas is smaller by the square of the aspect ratio. The leading transverse momentum balance and the shear-free conditions therefore give : write .
Incompressibility gives . Symmetry about sets the integration constant to zero, so
The normal traction on either nearly vertical face matches the ambient hydrostatic pressure, giving to leading order. The Newtonian fluid stress tensor then yields
The factor four is the planar extensional resistance, as in the planar viscous-sheet stretching equations, rather than the factor three for uniaxial extension with two contracting transverse directions.
The following slice diagram shows all axial-force contributions per unit -width; the end arrows indicate positive tensile stress and reverse if that signed stress is negative.
Figure 1.
Signed end tractions, ambient side pressure and weight on a widening viscous-sheet slice
. Details.
The two end tractions have net -component . The normal pressure on the inclined side faces contributes , and gravitational acceleration gives the weight . Hence force balance is
Substitute the stress expression and :
so
Keeping the side-pressure component is essential: dropping it would retain an incorrect dependence on the arbitrary ambient pressure level. The remaining equation from conservation of mass is
It follows either by integrating incompressibility across the moving faces or directly from the face kinematic boundary condition.
When effective gravitational acceleration vanishes, is independent of . It equals the applied excess tensile force , with ambient pressure removed from the end loading. Along a material element labeled by its initial position ,
Integration gives uniform material thinning under planar-sheet tension:
A material interval conserves its area: . Thus
With the specified fixed material origin, integrate the latter relation to obtain
These formulas hold while the material thickness remains positive.
For the quadratic initial profile, put . If , evaluating the integral at gives
For it instead gives
For a constant positive pulling force, first reaches the minimum initial thickness at
Both expressions for diverge there. Write . If , the inverse tangent tends to and , giving
For ,
This is finite-time extension of a quadratically thickened sheet. With nonzero , the dominant extension comes from the small material region near the thickness minimum, where the integrand is proportional to . Its width shrinks like , giving an integrated divergence . The fixed ends are asymptotically far away in those local coordinates, so does not depend on . For a uniform sheet the entire material interval has denominator , giving the stronger divergence and retaining its length in . The singularity is a prediction of the ideal slender-sheet model as its minimum thickness tends to zero.
For a stationary solid skeleton, the Darcy velocity is liquid volume transport per unit total cross-sectional area, while the pore velocity is the intrinsic mean fluid velocity within the connected pore space. Thus
For an incompressible liquid in a saturated region, conservation of mass is . With time-independent but spatially varying porosity, it becomes
not generally . Neglecting dispersion, a fluid interface is advected by the pore velocity; its mean normal speed is .
For the thin layer on the inclined plane, the gravitational acceleration components are downslope and normal to the plane. The hydrostatic approximation and constant pressure above the current give
With permeability of a porous medium , Darcy's law therefore gives
Here denote the components of the Darcy velocity. Integrate over depth, using the prescribed power laws:
Both integrals are finite for the positive exponents in the model. Conservation of the stored fluid gives , or
For , set , and
Since , the depth-dependent inclined porous-current equation is
The longitudinal flux carries fluid downslope, while the thickness-gradient terms spread it. The degenerate horizontal or vertical slope limits need their own coordinate scaling.
Write . A fluid element in the homologous spherical flow obeys , so remains constant. Also . Along every element, the continuity equation therefore gives . Every element starts with the same mass density, and hence has the same mass density at subsequent times:
This proves preservation of uniformity, rather than assuming it when conserving the total mass.
By the shell theorem, only the mass interior to radius contributes to its gravitational acceleration. That mass is . The same result follows directly from the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity: spherical symmetry gives , and regularity at the centre sets the integration constant to zero. Hence and
The material derivative of the background velocity is . There is no pressure force, and the momentum equation consequently reduces to
Multiplication by and integration, using collapse from rest, gives
Choose the negative square root for contraction. Put and . For , the energy integral then gives , while . Their ratio is
Integrating from the initial turning point proves the cycloid parametrization of pressureless homologous spherical collapse:
It covers the entire contracting branch, with complete collapse at and . At the uniform dust configuration is singular, so the smooth calculation is restricted to .
Each Fourier mode among the comoving perturbations of a homologously collapsing cloud has its phase fixed on each fluid element. In fact, for ,
Its physical wavelength contracts in proportion to , while its wavelength in the comoving coordinate stays fixed. This is the physical reason to use a time-dependent wavenumber; holding the physical wavenumber fixed would not follow the contracting pattern. Boundary effects are being excluded in this bulk Fourier mode calculation.
Let and let the perturbed velocity and Newtonian gravitational potential have amplitudes and . Linearizing the continuity equation, the uniform background eliminates . The advected phase eliminates its own time derivative, leaving
For the density contrast , use to obtain . The linear momentum equation and Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity are
Differentiating the density contrast equation must include :
Thus the compressive Fourier mode with satisfies
The pressureless approximation removes the usual acoustic restoring term of Jeans instability. A transverse velocity perturbation instead obeys and does not drive this density contrast.
Since , the density contrast equation becomes
For a direct verification, put . As , the first-derivative terms cancel, reducing the equation to
The function has second derivative and satisfies this equation. Transforming back gives the required growing branch:
To establish what the other solution does, use reduction of order, not just the growth of this example. The coefficient of is , so an independent solution is proportional to . Choose the integration endpoint at complete collapse to select the decaying branch:
For example, evaluating the integral with gives integrand and antiderivative . Its endpoint value gives the displayed expression. Its Wronskian with is , so the two solutions are independent on .
For , , and the integral in is . Consequently the two density modes of a collapsing pressureless sphere have
Equivalently, with , the local powers are and . There is one independent growing branch: every solution is , and only the branch with decays at collapse. The uniqueness is up to normalization and addition of the decaying solution; it does not mean that only one literal function can grow. A fixed nonzero initial perturbation will eventually violate , so the divergent linear result is not a nonlinear solution through collapse.
Figure 1.
Homogeneous collapse from rest and the growing and decaying fractional-density modes
. Details.