White-dwarf envelope thickness-luminosity relation ($s_1/s_2=(L_1/L_2{)}^{2/7}$)

For fixed mass, degenerate radius and composition, the matching of a white-dwarf envelope to a degenerate core gives $L\propto T_c^{7/2}$, while the geometrical thickness of a white-dwarf radiative envelope gives $s\propto T_c$ to leading thin-layer order. Cooling therefore thins this idealized envelope. At finite thickness the ratio additionally contains $(1+q_2)/(1+q_1)$.