Star Deaths
and
the
Formation
of
Compact
Objects
1.1
What
Are
Compact
Objects?
A
book on compact objects logically begins where a book on normal stellarevolution leaves off. Compact objects-white dwarfs, neutron stars, and blackholes-are
“born”
when normal stars “die,” that is, when most
of
their nuclearfuel has been consumed.All three species of compact object differ from normal stars in two fundamen-
tnl
wnys. First, since
they
du
iiot
burn nuclear fuel, they cannot supportthemselves against gravitational collapse
by
generating thermal pressure. Instead,white dwarfs are supported by the pressure of degenerate electrons, whde neutronstars are supported largely by the pressure
of
degenerate neutrons. Black holes, onthe other hand, are completely collapsed stars-that is, stars that could not find
any
means
to
hold back the inward pull of gravity and therefore collapsed tosingularities. With the exception of the spontaneously radiating “mini” blackholes with masses
M
less than
10’’
g and radii smaller than a fermi, all threecompact objects are essentially static over the lifetime of the Universe. Theyrepresent the final stage of stellar evolution.The second characteristic distinguishing compact objects from normal stars istheir exceedingly small size. Relative to normal stars
of
comparable mass, com-pact objects have much smaller radii and hence, much stronger surface gravita-tional fields. This fact is dramatically illustrated in Table
1.1
and Figure 1.1.Because
of
the enormous density range spanned by compact objects, theiranalysis requires a deep physical understanding of the structure of matter and thenature of interparticle forces over a vast range of parameter space. All fourfundamental interactions (the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism,
3
Black Holes,
White Dwarfs, and Neutron Stars
THE PHYSICS
OF
COMPACT OBJECTS
Stuart
L.
ShapiroSaul
A. TeukolskyCopyright
0
2004
WILEY-VCH
Verlag
GmbH
&
Co.
KGaA
2
Star Deaths and
the
Formation
of
Compact ObjectsTable
1.1
Distinguishing
Traits
of
Compact Objects
Mass’ Radiusb Mean Density Surface PotentialObject
(W
(R)
(g
Cm-3)
(CM/RC~)
Sun
Ma
Ro
1
White dwarf
5
M,
-
10-’R,
5
107
-
Neutron star
-
1-3&
-
W5R,
-
10’5
-
10-1
Black
holeArbitrary
2GM/cZ
-
M/R3
-1
OM,
=
1.989
x
1033
’R,
=
6.9599
X
10’’
cm
and gravitation) play a role in compact objects. Particularly noteworthy are thelarge surface potentials encountered in compact objects, which imply that generalrelativity is important in determining their structure. Even for white dwarfs,where Newtonian gravitation is adequate
to
describe their equilibrium structure,general relativity turns out to be important for a proper understanding
of
theirstability.Because of their small radii, luminous white dwarfs, radiating away theirresidual thermal energy, are characterized by much higher effective temperaturesthan normal stars even though they have lower luminosities. (Recall that fora blackbody of temperature
T
and radius
R,
he flux varies as
T4,
so
theluminosity varies as
R2T4).
n other words, white dwarfs are much “whiter” thannormal stars, hence their name.Conversely, no light (or anything else, for that matter), can escape from a blackhole. Thus isolated black holes will appear “black” to any observer.
(Ths
statement has to be modified slightly when certain quantum mechanical effectsare taken into account, as we will discuss in Chapter
12.)
Neutron stars derive their name from the predominance of neutrons in theirinterior, following the mutual elimination of electrons and protons by inverse8-decay. Because their densities are comparable to nuclear values, neutron starsare essentially “giant nuclei“
(
los7baryons!), held together by self-gravity.White dwarfs can be observed directly in optical telescopes during their longcooling epoch. Neutron stars can be observed directly as pulsating radio sources(“pulsars”) and indirectly as gas-accreting, periodic X-ray sources (“X-raypulsars”). Black holes can only be observed indirectly through the influence theyexert on their environment. For example, they could be observed as gas-accreting,aperiodic X-ray sources under appropriate circumstances. We will discuss these aswell as other observable phenomena involving compact stars in subsequentchapters.
1.2
The
Formation
of
Compact
Objects
3
Figure
1.1
astronomical
bodies
are shown.
Compactobjectsin the Universe at large. The mean densities and radii
of
various
1.2
The
Formation
of
Compact
Objects
Compact objects are the end products of stellar evolution. The primary factordetermining whether a star ends up as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black holeis thought to be the star’s mass.White dwarfs are believed to originate from light stars with masses
M
5
4M,.
As
we shall see in Chapter
3,
there
is
a maximum allowed mass for white dwarfs,
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