Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 317 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Apply the preceding temperature profile at the envelope base. Introduce the dimensionless parameterThen , so the geometrical thickness of a white-dwarf radiative envelope isThe smallness to be established is therefore , up to the numerical factor .
That ordering follows from the cold, strongly electron-degenerate white dwarf model. Throughout the mass-bearing core, , where is the Fermi energy. For nonrelativistic electron degeneracy pressure,The stellar hydrostatic equation gives a characteristic core of order . Consequentlyfor fixed composition with order-one molecular-weight ratios, and . Equivalently, the matched base mass density is much lower than a characteristic core mass density, since . The degeneracy ordering applies in the bulk core; at the matching point degeneracy is becoming marginal.
The inequalities and express different facts. The first justifies ignoring surface-temperature terms, while the second makes the envelope geometrically thin. If the core were hot enough that were not small, the exact expression would not justify a thin-layer approximation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 317 2 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For PP chain burning and the Kramers' opacity law, insert , , and 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 :Equivalently . 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.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 317 2 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For fixed composition, electron-scattering opacity is effectively independent of mass density and temperature, so . With the specified CNO cycle exponent , the homology relations for radiative stars giveThe radiative homology with CNO burning and electron scattering is thereforeThe Stefan–Boltzmann law now givesEquivalently . These slopes are illustrated with arbitrary separate reference-model normalizations:
Logarithmic Hertzsprung-Russell slopes for the two idealized radiative homology sequences, with temperature increasing to the left
. Details. The proton–proton/Kramers model applies to the lower-mass regime; the CNO/electron-scattering model applies to the higher-mass regime. Higher-mass cores are hotter, making the more temperature-sensitive CNO cycle efficient, and highly ionized material favors electron-scattering opacity. These are the stated idealized radiative, gas-pressure-supported sequences: a fully convective low-mass star or a radiation-pressure-dominated massive star needs a different structural model. The intersection of independently normalized lines in the figure does not specify a physical crossover mass.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 317 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a slowly evolving spherical star, use a Lagrangian enclosed mass coordinate . Let be specific thermal internal energy and follow a mass element. The stellar energy balance equation isThe outward luminosity is energy transported through the mass shell, is nuclear rest-mass energy released per unit mass and time, and is escaping neutrino power per unit mass. Define the gravothermal stellar energy generation by . At fixed composition it is by the first law of thermodynamics. During composition changes the full internal-energy derivative must use the appropriate equation of state, with nuclear rest-mass changes counted only once. If a tabulated nuclear rate already subtracts reaction-neutrino energy, that loss must not be subtracted a second time in .
In a nearly steady main sequence star, stellar nuclear fusion supplies most of the luminosity. Before stable hydrogen ignition, Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction releases gravitational energy. In a gas-supported hydrostatic star the stellar virial theorem gives , so about half the change in gravitational binding energy heats the star and half is available for radiation. The associated timescale is . After nuclear burning ends, a white dwarf can shine by losing stored thermal energy; crystallization releases latent heat, and composition separation can add gravitational energy. These are heat and gravitational reservoirs rather than sustained hydrogen fusion.
Stellar nuclear fusion is possible because lighter nuclei can combine into products with larger nuclear binding energy. The energy per reaction is , including the relevant particles consistently. Although thermal energies are below the Coulomb barrier, quantum tunnelling permits fusion. The thermonuclear reaction rate averages a cross-section over the thermal relative-speed distribution:For nonresonant charged-particle reactions the energy weighting contains ; the compromise between the thermal tail and penetration produces the Gamow peak. A resonance can greatly enhance the rate. Density, abundances and temperature therefore all affect the stellar energy-generation rate, and power laws such as or are local approximations.
For the proton–proton chain, first produce deuterium and helium-3:The initial reaction is slow because it converts a proton to a neutron through the weak interaction. It is the bottleneck that allows long hydrogen-burning lifetimes. The alternative pep reaction also feeds the same chain. There are three principal proton-proton chain branches. In pp I, two helium-3 nuclei terminate the chain:In pp II, helium-3 first captures an existing helium-4 nucleus, then electron capture and proton capture finish the branch:In pp III, the beryllium-7 instead captures a proton:Relative branch weights change with temperature and composition. All branches convert four protons into a net helium-4 nucleus, with two weak conversions and two neutrinos, allowing for the electron consumed in pp II. After including positron annihilation, the atomic-mass energy budget is approximately per net helium-4 nucleus, but the deposited heat is smaller by the branch-dependent escaping-neutrino energy. Near ordinary low-mass main-sequence conditions, is a useful local approximation.
The CNO cycle provides an alternative catalyzed hydrogen burning route in hotter cores. The CNO-I cycle, also called the CN cycle, consists ofThe carbon seed is regenerated: the net reaction again consumes four protons and produces one helium-4 nucleus, two positrons and two neutrinos. The slow reaction governs the ordinary cycle and causes nitrogen-14 to accumulate. The CNO-II cycle branches through , , , and , after which the main cycle continues. Thus CNO nuclei are catalytic in the closed cycles, although their relative abundances change. A local rate is with a much steeper exponent than the PP chain; the preceding homology problem specifies . The concentration of this heating near the centre favors a convective core in hotter, more massive hydrogen-burning stars.
Once hydrogen is exhausted in a core, contraction can raise its temperature enough for core helium burning. The Triple-alpha process overcomes the absence of stable mass-5 and mass-8 nuclei by maintaining a tiny transient beryllium-8 population:The Hoyle state, an excited carbon-12 resonance near the three-alpha threshold, makes the second capture efficient enough despite beryllium-8's very short lifetime. The net conversion is , releasing about . Because three alpha particles are required, the specific rate scales as ; a schematic resonant rate isIts local temperature exponent is , of order forty near . A degenerate core cannot expand promptly to regulate this increase, giving a helium flash; in a nondegenerate core the stellar thermostat permits stable helium burning. The competing reaction determines much of the eventual carbon-oxygen mixture.
If the core becomes hot enough, carbon burning follows, for example through and . Neon burning begins with photodisintegration, , followed by alpha capture such as . The first step consumes heat, but the combined rearrangement can release net energy. Oxygen burning includes and channels producing phosphorus and other nearby nuclei. At still higher temperatures, silicon burning proceeds through photodisintegration and particle captures in a reaction network approaching quasi-statistical equilibrium, producing iron-group nuclei. It is not simply direct silicon-plus-silicon fusion; the products depend on the electron fraction and weak-interaction timescale.
The increasing nuclear binding energy per nucleon supplies progressively less energy as products approach the iron group. Further fusion past that region cannot provide sustained net heat to support a core. Massive stars can therefore end with an unstable iron-group core; lower-mass stars do not attain all these burning stages and instead leave remnants such as carbon-oxygen white dwarfs. Heavy-element neutron captures can synthesize nuclei beyond the iron group without being the principal hydrostatic power source.
Finally, stellar neutrino energy loss competes with every heat source. Reaction neutrinos accompany the proton–proton and CNO chains. Hot or dense material also emits neutrino pairs through , plasmon decay, , and electron-ion bremsstrahlung. These neutrinos usually escape, unlike the photons whose transport is diffusive; neutrino trapping requires much more extreme collapse conditions. Late burning has smaller fuel-energy reservoirs and strong neutrino cooling, so its duration is much shorter than core hydrogen burning. The surface luminosity is the escaping photon power, , not the sum of photons and unobserved neutrino power. Radiative diffusion in a star, convection and electron conduction redistribute energy, while the energy-balance equation distinguishes true sources, losses and storage. Accretion or mass loss adds boundary energy and mechanical work when present, rather than changing the nuclear reaction budget.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 332 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Take positive downwards from the roof. Write , , and . The cooled magma follows the decreasing liquidus from towards ; the initially superheated liquid starts at above that liquidus. The solid has zero solute concentration. At each temperature in the mushy layer, a horizontal tie line joins the pure solid to the residual liquid on the liquidus. The lever rule gives the liquid fraction from the bulk concentration. Since , this path stops before the eutectic temperature and does not cross the eutectic composition.
The porosity denotes the liquid fraction, so is the solid fraction. Equal phase mass densities remove volume-change flow; the stable density stratification suppresses convection. In the stagnant mushy-layer model, define bulk specific enthalpy and bulk solute concentration byThe arbitrary reference of specific enthalpy has been omitted. The two conservation laws in areHere is the thermal diffusivity, with the thermal conductivity. The positive term records increased specific enthalpy on melting; during freezing it supplies latent heat. In the liquid , the heat equation and solute diffusion equation arewhere is the solutal diffusivity. Neglecting solute diffusion inside the mushy layer does not permit dropping in the liquid at this stage.
Use , liquid and as , and initially , , for . These are the half-space boundary conditions appropriate before cooling reaches the bottom of the chamber. For a closed chamber of finite depth , replace the far-field conditions by the specified bottom conditions, for example at an insulated impermeable floor; the half-space similarity solution then ceases to apply when the thermal penetration depth approaches .
At , let and be the common liquid concentration and temperature, and let be the limiting porosity on the mush side. Continuity of , the Rankine-Hugoniot condition for solute, and the interfacial conservation of energy giveThe first condition has the sign of solute rejection into the liquid. For the sharp-edge stagnant mushy-layer model with nonzero liquid solutal diffusivity, close the free-boundary problem by marginal equilibrium at a mush-liquid boundary:This prevents constitutional supercooling immediately ahead of the mushy layer. A small solid fraction jump at its edge is allowed: imposing as well as these finite- conditions would generally overdetermine the reduced model. At the roof, follows from the liquidus, and no additional solute-flux boundary condition is needed in the diffusion-free mush.
To obtain the large-concentration similarity solution, putThe positive superheat specifies the physically intended liquid initial state. On a similarity solution, are constant, so every newly incorporated level leaves the same constant . Write and . Then throughout the mushy layerFor , , and , the effective heat capacity is constant to relative error . Thus setIntegration of the similarity solution ordinary differential equation gives the leading analytical profilesThe temperature is . In the mushy layer, the concentration and porosity are the displayed ; in the liquid,These retain the liquid solutal boundary layer. For completeness, finite- values of are determined analytically, to the same large- order, by settingand solvingThe solute jump gives exactly; replacing by on the right of the last equation retains that jump's next-order factor, but does not make the linearized thermal profiles exact at finite . The branch has , . All these profiles are leading asymptotic expressions, not exact solutions of the nonlinear finite- heat equation.
For at fixed positive , the complementary error function asymptotic gives , hence , , , and . The result simplifies toIn particular, and . There is no finite interfacial latent heat jump in this limit: the latent heat is released continuously throughout the mushy layer. Matching the two temperature gradients givesThe printed final equation is missing the square on in the exponential. The corrected exponent follows directly from differentiating and is consistent with . The positive root is unique: the mush-side gradient decreases from infinity to zero with , whereas increases. The zero-superheat limit is singular and is not described by a finite positive in this two-region construction.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 303 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
These are mean-field critical exponents at a tricritical point. Hold the other control at its tricritical value and take the coefficients to be real analytic functions of temperature along a thermal approach with , , , and or . At fixed tricritical , a generic real analytic temperature path with nonzero thermal slope has and meets the last condition. Paths tangent to a scaling direction can have different apparent temperature powers.
At zero field on the ordered side with , stationarity gives ; under the more general approach , this relation holds to leading order. Thus the order-parameter critical exponent isFor the zero-quartic representative, putting this minimum into the Landau free energy gives the singular order-parameter contribution (and the leading asymptotic contribution under the stated negligible-quartic approach)Using at fixed other control yields , specifically to leading order. HenceThis heat-capacity critical exponent refers to the nonzero ordered-side singular amplitude; in this mean-field approximation to Landau theory, the disordered global minimum contributes zero singular free energy, while any regular background remains. Fluctuation corrections lie outside the present approximation.
In the disordered phase, differentiating the equation of state at gives the magnetic susceptibility . On the ordered branch its curvature is , so . Both give the magnetic-susceptibility critical exponentAt the tricritical temperature with both lower coefficients zero, , so and the critical-isotherm exponent isThe Widom scaling relation and Rushbrooke scaling relation both check these powers. Their validity here is a mean-field conclusion, not a claim that fluctuations in every spatial dimension preserve them.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 303 1 e Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
At an ordinary zero-field continuous phase transition, the positive quartic coefficient remains nonzero while . Approaching from the ordered side therefore sends the variable in the tricritical crossover scaling form to , rather than to zero. With the dimensionless minimizer obeys , soAt that stationary point, substitution gives . Its large-quartic asymptotic of tricritical scaling is consequently , andIf crosses zero linearly with temperature, this is quadratic in , giving a finite heat capacity jump rather than a power divergence. ThereforeFor locally constant and slope , the leading singular heat capacity jump from this term is . Treating as a nonzero constant while would incorrectly assign the tricritical exponent to this ordinary transition.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 310 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
When the number-changing reaction is in chemical equilibrium, its chemical balance condition is . Therefore zero chemical potential from number-changing reactions gives . Elastic scattering maintains kinetic equilibrium but imposes no independent condition on . The conclusion requires the number-changing rate to remain large compared with the Hubble parameter; merely listing an allowed reaction does not guarantee this after freeze-out.
Before thermal decoupling in cosmology, the sectors have a common temperature . For relativistic species at that temperature their entropy densities aresoThese are the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom for entropy. The paper's agrees with for relativistic components at a common temperature. For one real scalar field, . At temperatures where all Standard Model species are relativistic, both counts are constant, and so is before decoupling; thresholds can change this equilibrium ratio if they occur while the sectors remain coupled.
After decoupling, adiabatic isolation gives separately conserved visible and dark entropy: and are individually constant. Thus even when either sector's entropy degrees of freedom change. Changes in particle content then alter their temperature ratio rather than the ratio of their comoving entropies. This assumes no late inter-sector transfer or entropy injection.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 310 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the dark-sector temperature in every dimensionless integration variable: and . Assume a single real scalar field, , and fast number-changing reactions keeping . For , the populated momenta satisfy , soThis is the nonrelativistic Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution limit of the Bose-Einstein distribution. The given Gaussian Gamma function integral givesSince and , the entropy density at zero chemical potential is . Its leading nonrelativistic entropy at zero chemical potential is thereforeAn internal multiplicity would multiply this expression; the absence of in the printed result assumes a real one-state scalar.
Now use the constant separately conserved visible and dark entropy ratio and the relativistic visible-bath entropy law, . Since ,Thus the cannibal-sector temperature ratio hasThe numerical coefficient is approximately . The visible-bath temperature is the photon temperature while that bath is internally thermalized; after distinct visible species acquire different temperatures, its total entropy must instead use the appropriate temperature-weighted .
The displayed relativistic scalar entropy formula must not be continued into this regime with held constant. If it is used as an effective definition at arbitrary temperature, thenand gives the same result. This specifies how the relativistic expression can legitimately be combined with the nonrelativistic one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 311 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Work first in units . Black-hole thermodynamics starts with the laws of black-hole mechanics. For a connected stationary regular Killing horizon, the Zeroth law of black-hole mechanics makes its surface gravity constant when the Einstein field equations and dominant energy condition hold. This parallels uniform equilibrium temperature. For neighboring stationary asymptotically flat four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell black holes, the First law of black-hole mechanics iswhere is the horizon angular velocity and its electric potential relative to infinity. The last terms are rotational and electromagnetic work, analogous to the work terms in . The second law of black-hole mechanics, expressed by Hawking's area theorem, makes the total future horizon area nondecreasing for classical matter obeying the null energy condition and global assumptions such as strong asymptotic predictability. The third law of black-hole mechanics is an unattainability statement: subject to the usual regularity assumptions, the weak energy condition, and a bounded stress-energy tensor, no finite physical process reduces the surface gravity of a regular horizon to zero. It does not assert that extremal black holes have zero area or zero entropy.
Classical geometry alone fixes an analogy, not a nonzero physical temperature. Quantum field theory supplies Hawking temperature . Comparing the area term of the first law with gives for nonextremal holes, and hence the standard Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. Restoring physical constants,Here restored is the physical acceleration surface gravity and is the squared Planck length. The first-law comparison determines the area coefficient, leaving an additive entropy constant unspecified; the displayed formula is the usual convention. Its area scaling, rather than ordinary volume scaling, signals that the available thermodynamic degrees of freedom of a gravitating system are constrained by the horizon geometry.
Particle production explains the quantum input. For a real scalar field obeying the massless covariant wave equation, the Klein-Gordon inner product on solutions isThe wave equation makes its current divergence-free, so the product is independent of a Cauchy hypersurface when the boundary flux vanishes. Use suitably normalized wave packets or the appropriate continuum distributions. Asymptotic past and future Minkowski spacetimes give preferred positive-frequency solution mode bases and , normalized by , and . Between those regions, a nonstationary geometry generally has no preferred positive-frequency splitting.
The mode bases are related by a Bogoliubov transformation,The last identities follow from conservation of the Klein-Gordon inner product and are the canonical identities for a bosonic Bogoliubov transformation. Expanding the field in either complete basis and extracting its positive-frequency coefficient givesThus the state annihilated by every hasThis particle number from Bogoliubov coefficients is nonzero when time evolution mixes positive and negative frequencies. It describes one state as vacuum in the early particle basis and populated in the late basis; it does not require an arbitrary choice of a vacuum at each intermediate time. For a finite implementable transformation the state remains a squeezed pure quantum state. In infinitely many modes, a common unitary bosonic Fock space implementation requires additional conditions, such as the beta map being a Hilbert-Schmidt operator; finite wave packet observables need not share every global divergence of an ideal continuum calculation.
For gravitational collapse, the future is not globally Minkowski: it contains a black hole. The relevant late out-basis includes modes reaching future null infinity together with modes entering the future event horizon. Modes on infinity alone are not a complete Cauchy basis. Nevertheless the same mode-mixing calculation determines the outgoing particle flux. Near a nonextremal horizon, the logarithm in the tortoise coordinate converts regular early null coordinates into the Hawking exponential ray mapwhere is the early affine null coordinate and is late retarded time at infinity. Backward propagation of a late outgoing mode gives a factor for . Its positive- and negative-frequency Fourier integrals differ by analytic continuation around the logarithmic branch. With a convergence regulator they reduce toTaking gives the thermal ratio of Hawking Bogoliubov coefficients, . Combining this with the canonical normalization yields the bosonic occupation . Late-time wave packets turn formal continuum coefficients into a finite number flux.
A Schwarzschild black hole has , so this spectrum has . The exterior curvature potential partly reflects the outgoing modes. Its transmission probabilities are the greybody factors, giving, for one massless scalar species in the stationary late-time approximation,Thus the horizon temperature is universal, while the spectrum received at infinity is not a perfect featureless blackbody radiation spectrum. The derivation assumes the near-horizon quantum state inherited from a regular collapse vacuum and ignores rapid backreaction over the timescale of the packets. Exponentially blueshifted precursor frequencies indicate the usual short-distance assumption in the semiclassical calculation, not an independently demonstrated quantum-gravity description of the endpoint.
The outgoing positive energy flux drives black-hole evaporation. At leading order for a large isolated Schwarzschild black hole, area scales as and temperature as , giving and a lifetime of order , with the coefficient depending on species and transmission factors. Its negative heat capacity of a Schwarzschild black hole, , means that it heats up as it loses mass and cannot be in stable canonical equilibrium with an unlimited thermal reservoir. The approximation fails when quantum-gravitational scales are reached and does not fix whether the endpoint is complete evaporation, a remnant, or something else.
Area loss does not contradict the classical area theorem, because the quantum stress-energy tensor need not obey the classical null energy condition; negative horizon energy accompanies the positive outgoing flux. The appropriate thermodynamic statement is the generalized second law, involving . Finally, Hawking radiation raises the black hole information paradox: if a pure quantum state completely evaporates into an exactly thermal mixed quantum state and its partners disappear, the result conflicts with ordinary unitary time evolution. Early outgoing radiation can be mixed simply because of its entanglement with interior modes while the complete state remains a pure quantum state; that fact alone is not information loss. Resolving the fate of all correlations through the evaporation endpoint requires more than the leading semiclassical flux calculation.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 314 1 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Write for the material derivative and for the cross-helicity density, so . The ideal magnetohydrodynamic induction equation of ideal magnetohydrodynamics, with , givesThe dot product of the Euler momentum equation with the magnetic field has no Lorentz force contribution, because . Consequently,Here is the specific enthalpy, the temperature, and the specific entropy; is the internal energy per unit mass. The first law of thermodynamics in this convention is , so . Substitution, followed by , yields the cross-helicity conservation lawThe vector triple product identity puts this in the equivalent form
For the fixed volume, the divergence theorem gives the exact cross-helicity balanceThus cross-helicity is constant when the net source equals the outward flux. Simple sufficient hypotheses are throughout the volume and on its boundary. The first condition includes a homentropic flow; the second prevents both relevant boundary fluxes. Periodic boundary conditions, or sufficiently rapid decay at infinity, provide alternatives. These statements concern smooth ideal magnetohydrodynamics: material specific entropy conservation alone, , does not eliminate spatial specific entropy gradients along the magnetic field lines.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 1 a iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the usual atmospheric plotting convention: temperature on the horizontal axis, logarithmic pressure increasing downward. To illustrate a physically plausible local range for a hot Jupiter, set and . The sign is not fixed by the fact that the planet is a hot Jupiter; irradiation and opacity determine whether an atmospheric thermal inversion is present.
The original sketch shows both admissible branches of the square-root exponential atmospheric profile, with separate assumed normalizations for the outward-cooling example and for the inverted example. Each extends from to and has . For , increasing depth increases both pressure and temperature, so the curve bends rightward downward. For , moving upward lowers pressure and raises temperature, so the curve bends rightward upward. Each branch meets with ; it must not be continued through that endpoint onto the other branch.
Illustrative branches of an atmospheric pressure-temperature profile
. Details. For the outward-cooling example, , so a section of the imposed profile is unstable for a homogeneous diatomic ideal gas. It should be interpreted as an illustrative retrieved radiative profile that would be modified by convection if realised, rather than a self-consistent deep convective atmosphere. The inverted branch is stable under the same assumptions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Assume a homogeneous ideal gas, constant specific-heat ratio , and an upward displacement that is an adiabatic process and maintains pressure balance with its surroundings. If the ambient temperature falls faster with decreasing pressure than the parcel's adiabatic temperature gradient, the parcel becomes hotter and less dense than its surroundings; buoyancy amplifies the displacement. This is the Schwarzschild criterion:The square-root exponential atmospheric profile hasAn atmospheric thermal inversion with has and is stable to these ordinary adiabatic displacements. For , put . The condition becomes the quadratic inequalityintersected with and . In the usual case , the maximum gradient occurs at , namely , and is . Hence a convectively unstable interval exists precisely whenEquality in the existence condition gives a single neutrally stable point. A molecular-hydrogen-dominated hot Jupiter with rotational modes active but vibrational excitation and dissociation negligible has approximately , so . The existence condition is then . For the general inequality above remains valid, but its roots must be intersected with the positive-temperature domain; the positive- maximum formula must not be reused. Composition gradients require the Ledoux criterion, and dissociation or variable heat capacities change . Sustained convection normally adjusts a superadiabatic profile toward an adiabatic temperature gradient.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 1 a i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Take , real , and the real branch , with physical temperature . In hydrostatic equilibrium the pressure decreases with height :Thus an atmospheric thermal inversion means , equivalently . For , the logarithm of the given relation yieldsThe sign restriction must be retained after squaring. In particular, the inverted branch has , whereas the non-inverted branch has . By differentiation, on the interior of either branch,Consequently,At , the inverse temperature gradient vanishes at the branch endpoint, rather than producing a finite isothermal interval. If , the relation becomes independently of ; it is not a nontrivial vertical atmospheric pressure-temperature profile under hydrostatic equilibrium. These distinctions prevent the two sides of the squared parabola from being interpreted as one permissible atmosphere.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 1 a iv Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The functional form is not specific to exoplanets. With positive pressure normalization and physical temperature, a square-root exponential atmospheric profile can approximate a monotone interval of the terrestrial atmosphere. An outward-cooling interval, such as part of the troposphere or mesosphere, requires . An upward-warming interval, such as part of the stratosphere heated by ultraviolet absorption or the thermosphere heated by high-energy radiation, requires .
The local atmospheric lapse rate follows from the ideal gas relation and hydrostatic equilibrium:For dry terrestrial air, approximately and give the dry-adiabatic lapse rate . The familiar mean tropospheric value near is less steep; a local fit must satisfy to be dry-convectively stable. Moist convection needs the moist parcel thermodynamics instead, and the terrestrial atmosphere is not uniformly dry or chemically homogeneous at all heights.
The squared-logarithm shape cannot reproduce an exactly constant nonzero lapse rate over an arbitrary thick region, all the alternating atmospheric layers, or a finite exactly isothermal region. It is a local parametrization with a fixed sign of the temperature gradient; it has no terrestrial universality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A natural interpretation of the short-wavelength peak is reflected starlight, while the longer-wavelength peak is planetary thermal radiation. A reflected spectrum approximately follows the stellar spectrum multiplied by the wavelength-dependent geometric albedo; thermal radiative flux approximately follows the planet's Planck function, modulated by molecular opacity. Thus two peaks need not represent two planetary surface temperatures.
For a quantitative estimate assume both are broad peaks, reflection has a slowly varying geometric albedo, and star and planet have approximately blackbody spectral envelopes. Wien's displacement law then givesThe stellar estimate is compatible at order of magnitude with an old, relatively small main-sequence star; equal age does not mean equal temperature to the Sun. Assume the far-infrared signal is thermal and sufficiently long-wavelength that the Rayleigh-Jeans law applies to both bodies. The planet-star radius estimate in the Rayleigh-Jeans limit givesand thereforeThis is a small volatile-rich-planet-sized estimate, not a Jupiter-sized one. It is conditional: peaks caused by molecular windows, strongly chromatic reflection, or a spectrum expressed as rather than do not support those two Wien estimates. Without , the far-infrared ratio only fixes .
For a close-in hot planet around a small star, transit-based atmospheric observations are the natural route if the orbital geometry allows them. Exoplanet transmission spectra gain from the small stellar radius, with a limb signal scaling as ; they probe composition at the day-night terminator. The stated thermal contrast also makes exoplanet secondary eclipse measurements a particularly useful route to the dayside exoplanet emission spectrum. Resolving such a close-in small planet by exoplanet direct imaging is much harder. Transit and secondary-eclipse spectroscopy are favoured for a transiting close-in interpretation; the supplied spectrum alone does not determine the orbital geometry or a unique best technique.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 2 a ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Three physically distinct mechanisms are as follows.
- Jeans escape: particles in the high-speed tail of the local thermal distribution escape collisionlessly from the exobase. The Jeans escape parameter determines the exponentially small tail fraction when binding is strong. Light atoms escape more readily at fixed temperature.
- Hydrodynamic atmospheric escape: stellar extreme-ultraviolet or X-ray heating raises atmospheric pressure and drives an expanding bulk wind. A sufficiently strong wind entrains heavier species. An approximate energy-limited atmospheric escape estimate equates useful absorbed power to gravitational work, , but radiative losses, recombination and tides can invalidate this scaling.
- Nonthermal atmospheric escape: photodissociation or charge exchange produces fast atoms, while stellar-wind ion pickup and sputtering transfer energy to ions or neutrals independently of the local gas temperature. Magnetic geometry and stellar activity affect these channels. Radiation pressure can accelerate escaping neutral hydrogen into a tail.
Thermal-tail escape, a bulk hydrodynamic wind, and nonthermal particle energization are three distinct channels; a detected tail need not distinguish them alone. Jeans escape and hydrodynamic atmospheric escape are both thermal mechanisms in the broad sense, but have different distribution functions and dynamical assumptions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 2 b ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Assume a single-phase ideal gas mixture in a closed parcel, with common temperature , total pressure , and molar species amounts . Define and volume mixing ratios , so . Ideal mixing makes partial pressure .
For a pure ideal species, , with molar volume . At fixed temperature, integration from standard pressure givesThe same logarithmic composition term follows from the ideal mixing entropy . Extensivity gives . Hence the Gibbs free energy of an ideal-gas mixture isEquivalently, write each standard chemical term as , using molar enthalpy and entropy. For zero abundance the limit defines the extensive expression continuously.
The fractions alone do not specify the extensive Gibbs free energy: the total amount or an equivalent elemental inventory must also be fixed. Moreover, in a chemically closed reacting system need not remain constant; for example, hydrogenation of carbon monoxide changes the total molecular count while conserving atoms. Minimization is therefore over species amounts subject to elemental constraints, rather than over fractions with an artificially fixed molecular count. Nonideal gases require activities or fugacities; condensates contribute separate phase terms.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 2 b i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Let the closed atmospheric parcel exchange heat and volume work with reservoirs at fixed temperature and pressure , while reactions rearrange its conserved elemental inventory. For a reversible differential between equilibrium states, the first law of thermodynamics, with chemical work included, isThe Gibbs free energy therefore obeysThe first law of thermodynamics supplies this differential but does not alone choose the direction of a reaction. The Second law of thermodynamics does: for the parcel plus its reservoirs, at fixed and with no non-volume work,Thus spontaneous reactions decrease Gibbs free energy, and stable thermochemical equilibrium is its constrained minimum. For an allowed reaction of extent , let , with positive stoichiometric vector entries for products and negative entries for reactants. At an interior minimum,The condition must hold for every independent allowed reaction, with fixed total atoms of each element and any relevant charge constraint. At a boundary with absent species, only feasible one-sided variations are permitted. These are the hypotheses of constrained Gibbs minimization for chemical equilibrium.
For an ideal gas mixture, , where is the volume mixing ratio and the molar gas constant. ThereforeThis is a dimensionless activity-based equilibrium constant, not a bare product of dimensional pressures.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 315 2 c iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Convection mixes material vertically where the Schwarzschild criterion or Ledoux criterion allows it. Its chemical effect is controlled by competition between transport and reaction, rather than by a direct alteration of the equilibrium constant. Parametrize vertical transport by a vertical eddy diffusion coefficient ; the eddy mixing time over a scale height isLet be the chemical relaxation time of the relevant interconversion. If reactions are faster, the gas follows local thermochemical equilibrium. If transport becomes faster, composition can be carried upward faster than it re-equilibrates. A chemical quench level is approximately where the two times match:For example, hot deep gas may contain abundant carbon monoxide. Strong mixing can maintain it in cooler layers where equilibrium would favour methane; this is carbon monoxide–methane quenching. Similar reasoning applies to nitrogen–ammonia quenching. The cooler nightside commonly has slower reaction rates and can preserve such quenched composition more readily, whereas sufficiently rapid dayside chemistry can restore local equilibrium. Neither statement is universal without the actual reaction network and temperature.
The observable atmosphere of a strongly irradiated hot Jupiter may be radiative and stable even if the deeper interior is convective. Deep convection influences the photosphere only if some mixing crosses the intervening radiative region, for example through overshoot or other dynamical transport. Moreover, transport from day to night is horizontal circulation, not vertical convection; its relevant competition is atmospheric advection time versus chemical relaxation time, giving horizontal chemical quenching. Convection can affect either hemisphere indirectly through connected vertical transport; strong deep convection alone does not guarantee a quenched observable composition.


