Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / iii / Paper 317 (Structure and Evolution of Stars)

A stellar polytrope of index $n$ obeysCombining hydrostatic equilibrium, $dP/dr=-Gm\rho /r^2$, with mass conservation, $dm/dr=4\pi r^2\rho$, gives the Lane-Emden equationRegularity and normalization at the stellar centre requireIntegrating the Lane-Emden equation from the centre then gives the enclosed mass

For $n=5$, direct substitution into the equation findsso $\beta =1/3$ and $\gamma =-1/2$. This profile has no finite first zero and hence has infinite radius, but its total mass converges:Its mean density over the full, infinite configuration is consequently zero.

For a perfect gas, $T\propto P/\rho \propto {\rho }^{1/5}$, so $T/T_c=\theta$. The luminosity from CNO cycle burning with $ϵ={ϵ}_0\rho T^{11}$ is thereforewhereThus $A$ is of order unity. The model is physically poor because the $n=5$ polytrope has infinite radius and zero mean density, while strongly temperature-sensitive CNO burning changes the thermal gradient and commonly creates convection. Real cores also have evolving composition, non-polytropic opacity and energy transport, and boundaries supplied by the surrounding star.

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The density exponent in $ϵ={ϵ}_0{\rho }^a{T}^b$ reflects the number of reacting pairs per unit mass; for ordinary two-body hydrogen burning, $a\simeq 1$. The temperature exponent is the local logarithmic sensitivity of the thermally averaged nuclear cross-section. Near $2\times 10^7\mathrm{K}$,are standard approximations.

Spherical regularity makes central scalar profiles even in $r$. Since density and temperature decrease outward in a normal stellar core, they have expansionswith $\alpha ,\beta >0$. The high power $T^b$ then suppresses burning rapidly away from the centre, especially for the CNO cycle.

The luminosity equation isExpanding and integrating givesThe luminosity generated by a thin shell scales locally as $r^2\exp [-((a+1)\beta +b\alpha )r^2]$. Its maximum therefore haswhen the temperature term dominates. Comparable central structures then give

Near the centre, mass conservation gives $m(r)=4\pi {\rho }_c{r}^3/3+O(r^5)$. Substitution into hydrostatic equilibrium and integration yieldsFor the perfect-gas law $P=\rho \mathcal{R}T/\mu$,Taking the two-body value $a=1$ in the earlier expression for $\gamma$ and eliminating $\alpha$ gives

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In stellar homology, two stars have identical dimensionless density, pressure, temperature, and luminosity profiles. Mass conservation, hydrostatic equilibrium, and the perfect-gas equation of state then giveThe chemical composition is initially fixed here, so $\mu$ is constant.

For opacity $\kappa ={\kappa }_0{\rho }^a{T}^b$, radiative diffusion gives the homology scalingNuclear burning with $ϵ={ϵ}_0\rho T^n$ instead givesEquating the two luminosities yieldsand the mass-luminosity relationFor usual main-sequence opacity and burning laws, $\eta >1$, so massive stars are much more luminous and exhaust a fuel supply proportional to $M$ in a time $t_{\ast }\propto M/L\propto M^{1-\eta }$.

At sufficiently high mass, radiation pressure and radiative acceleration become important. Hydrostatic balance requires the luminosity to remain below the Eddington luminosityThe upper envelope is linear in $M$, so the relation must flatten toward slope one; the corresponding nuclear lifetime approaches a weakly mass-dependent or roughly constant value rather than continuing the steep decline predicted by gas-pressure homology.

During core hydrogen burning, conversion of hydrogen into helium reduces the number of free particles per unit mass and raises the mean molecular weight. The core contracts and heats to retain pressure support, while the envelope expands and the luminosity generally rises. Homology ultimately fails because composition becomes strongly nonuniform, an inert helium core and hydrogen-burning shell appear, and the core and envelope acquire qualitatively different equations of state, transport regimes, and radial scales as the star leaves the main sequence.

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For a circular binary star, the relative orbit has speed $v=\sqrt{GM/a}$. Its orbital angular momentum is thereforeLogarithmic differentiation, using $\dot{\mu }/\mu ={\dot{M}}_1/M_1+{\dot{M}}_2/M_2-\dot{M}/M$, givesFor conservative binary mass transfer, $\dot{M}=0$, ${\dot{J}}_{\mathrm{orb}}=0$, and ${\dot{M}}_2=-{\dot{M}}_1$. HenceSince a donor has ${\dot{M}}_1<0$, the orbit widens for $M_1<M_2$ and shrinks for $M_1>M_2$.

Write the Roche lobe radius as $R_L=aF(q)$, whereThenConservative transfer has $d\ln q/d\ln M_1=1+q$, so

The donor response $R_1\propto M_1^{-n}$ has ${\zeta }_{\ast }=d\ln R_1/d\ln M_1=-n$, whereasAfter $d\ln M_1<0$, overflow decreases only if ${\zeta }_{\ast }>{\zeta }_L$. The dynamical stability of binary mass transfer criterion is thusFor $q>1$, both terms make $n_{\mathrm{crit}}<0$, which is incompatible with $n>0$. Transfer from the more massive donor is therefore dynamically unstable: mass loss shrinks its Roche lobe while the donor expands. The resulting runaway commonly produces a common envelope, followed by envelope ejection into a tighter binary or by a stellar merger.

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