2010/12/31 by Michael F. Rotondo, M. Rotondo, Jorge A. Rueda +4 · 71 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Chandrasekhar limit #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Coulomb #Electron #Feynman diagram #General relativity #Mathematical physics #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Relativistic quantum chemistry #White dwarf #astro-ph.SR #gr-qc #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.84.084007
published in Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields 84(8) (American Physical Society) · To be published by Phys. Rev. D
arxiv created 2011/09/13 · openalex publication_date 2011/10/04 · arxiv updated 2012/06/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The recent formulation of the relativistic Thomas-Fermi model within the Feynman-Metropolis-Teller theory for compressed atoms is applied to the study of general relativistic white dwarf equilibrium configurations. The equation of state, which takes into account the \ensuremathβ-equilibrium, the nuclear and the Coulomb interactions between the nuclei and the surrounding electrons, is obtained as a function of the compression by considering each atom constrained in a Wigner-Seitz cell. The contribution of quantum statistics, weak, nuclear, and electromagnetic interactions is obtained by the determination of the chemical potential of the Wigner-Seitz cell. The further contribution of the general relativistic equilibrium of white dwarf matter is expressed by the simple formula √g00\ensuremathμws=constant, which links the chemical potential of the Wigner-Seitz cell \ensuremathμws with the general relativistic gravitational potential g00 at each point of the configuration. The configuration outside each Wigner-Seitz cell is strictly neutral and therefore no global electric field is necessary to warranty the equilibrium of the white dwarf. These equations modify the ones used by Chandrasekhar by taking into due account the Coulomb interaction between the nuclei and the electrons as well as inverse \ensuremathβ decay. They also generalize the work of Salpeter by considering a unified self-consistent approach to the Coulomb interaction in each Wigner-Seitz cell. The consequences on the numerical value of the Chandrasekhar-Landau mass limit as well as on the mass-radius relation of 4He, 12C, 16O and 56Fe white dwarfs are presented. All these effects should be taken into account in processes requiring a precision knowledge of the white dwarf parameters.