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Incoming links: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Chandrasekhar limit Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
The Chandrasekhar mass is the limiting mass of a cold nonrotating white dwarf supported by relativistic electron degeneracy pressure, about for ordinary composition. It bounds the retained remnant's mass, rather than the birth mass of a star that can lose an envelope. The ideal limit assumes fixed mean molecular weight per electron, Newtonian gravity and a noninteracting degenerate electron gas; electron capture, general relativity, stellar rotation and ignition can change the attainable endpoint.
The Chandrasekhar limit belongs to work of the early 1930s. In his 1983 retrospective, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar reprints the 1935 mass–radius sequence and then discusses stellar evolution and relativistic stability.[ref]
On Stars, Their Evolution and Their Stability by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Section 5, pp. 149–151, Figure 2; sections 7–8, pp. 156–159
The 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized his broader theoretical work on stellar structure and stellar evolution; the other half recognized William Alfred Fowler's theoretical and experimental work on nuclear reactions underlying chemical element formation.[ref]The Nobel Prize in Physics 1983 by Nobel Prize Outreach. Award shares and motivations
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983 2026-10-18
One half went to Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for theoretical studies of processes governing stellar structure and evolution. The other half went to William Alfred Fowler for theoretical and experimental studies of nuclear reactions involved in forming the chemical elements in the universe.[ref]
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1983 by Nobel Prize Outreach. Individual official 1983 summary: equal halves; stellar structure/evolution and nuclear reactions forming chemical elements are distinct motivations.
White dwarf Created 2026-09-25 Updated 2026-10-18
A white dwarf is a compact stellar remnant supported mainly by electron degeneracy pressure. Its ions carry most of the mass, while its Electrons provide most of the supporting pressure. The Pauli exclusion principle makes compression fill quantum states with larger momenta; support therefore persists even when thermal motion becomes small. Cooling and hydrostatic equilibrium are separate questions: a white dwarf can radiate stored energy while retaining degeneracy support.
The surprising trend is that a more massive cold white dwarf is smaller. Its higher mass density raises the Fermi momentum, eventually requiring special relativity. The degenerate-electron pressure crossover explains why this response approaches a limiting stiffness and why the Chandrasekhar limit exists. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's 1983 lecture develops this connection between quantum statistics, stellar structure and stellar evolution.[ref]