Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 37 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take homologous profiles and hold composition, hence mean molecular weight, fixed. The stellar mass conservation equation and stellar hydrostatic equation give and . With ideal gas pressure support, . Integrating the specific nuclear rate through homologous profiles then givesThe radiative diffusion in a star equation gives . Here , soEquality of generated and transported luminosity implies , whenceThis is the radiative homology with density-half inverse-five-halves opacity scaling.
The Stefan–Boltzmann law defines the effective temperature by . Therefore . In theoretical Hertzsprung-Russell diagram coordinates, the slope isThe usual graphical convention puts increasing temperature to the left, so the line descends as one moves right. If the horizontal coordinate is , its plotted slope is .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 63 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
After complete ionization, each hydrogen nucleus supplies one ion and one Electron, while each helium-4 nucleus supplies one ion and two Electrons. Neglecting the small metal mass fraction and putting , the mean molecular weight therefore satisfiesUse stellar homology to compare models with common dimensionless profiles. The stellar mass conservation equation, stellar hydrostatic equation and ideal gas law giveThe radiative diffusion in a star equation then gives . Inserting the specified opacity yields . Independently, integrating the stellar energy-generation rate over the mass gives . Equating these in stellar thermal equilibrium gives the radiative homology with fifth-power hydrogen burning and inverse-cubic opacity:At fixed solar mass these reduce to and . The stellar homology approximation, rather than merely the local power laws, is what permits these relations between whole stars.
Equal luminosities imply . Thusso to one significant figure. Retaining the unrounded hydrogen mass fraction when comparing central temperatures givesThe first model has the higher central temperature.
For homogeneous hydrogen burning at fixed , fuel conservation gives . Since and , the homogeneous fuel-depletion luminosity feedback obeysIntegration with the initial mean molecular weight givesThis idealized stellar evolution law stops when ; it does not predict a physically attainable infinite luminosity. Indeed at fuel exhaustion, giving , strictly before the formal singularity.