Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 72 2 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The stated kinematics do not, by themselves, fix a galaxy's intrinsic axis ratio. The requested curve is the usual simplified oblate-rotator flattening proxy; its additional geometric and streaming conventions should be explicit. Put and adopt the approximate moment prescriptionHere is the ordered support assigned to one in-plane component. Using and solving givesIn this prescription, isotropic random motions give the oblate isotropic rotator curve; positive allows flattening with less rotation. A real solution requires , , and . Equality gives no rotation. This is a useful diagnostic approximation, not an exact identity for arbitrary density distributions.
To see what the tensor virial theorem actually requires, take a finite stationary axisymmetric system with mass-weighted constant velocity dispersions and azimuthal streaming speed . Since , the azimuthal average has . The and components giveand therefore, with the oblate tensor-virial shape factor ,For similar oblate self-gravitating density surfaces, write . The ellipsoidal force coefficients, obtained by integrating the Newtonian force over those surfaces, areThe common radial integral in the stellar potential-energy tensor cancels, but these shape coefficients remain. At , , rather than . With , the intrinsic azimuthal ratio is about , whereas the printed simplified ratio is . Recovering the latter uses both and . Thus, if the printed literally means intrinsic azimuthal speed, its claimed exact relation omits necessary model assumptions and a streaming normalization. The next sketch displays the requested approximate curve with that qualification.