Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / iii / Paper 317 / 2 / b / Solution

For PP chain burning and the Kramers' opacity law, insert $\eta =4$, $\lambda =1$, and $\nu =-7/2$ into the homology relations for radiative stars:Thus the radiative homology with proton-proton burning and Kramers opacity isTo obtain the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram slope, apply the Stefan–Boltzmann law $L=4\pi R^2\sigma T_{\mathrm{eff}}^4$:Equivalently $T_{\mathrm{eff}}\propto L^{69/284}$. The Hertzsprung-Russell slope of a stellar homology sequence refers here to logarithmic luminosity versus logarithmic effective temperature; a conventional diagram reverses its horizontal axis, so the line descends toward the right.