= White dwarf
{wiki}
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>.<On Stars, Their Evolution and Their Stability by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar>[Sections 4–5, printed pp. 146–151, equations 22–46 and Figures 2–3]{ref}
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