PHYS 183 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Electron Degeneracy Pressure, Pauli Exclusion Principle, Identical Particles
Document Summary
Quantum state of matter: at extreme densities, matter behaves strangely, when we compress sub-atomic together very closely, quantum mechanics matters, pauli exclusion principle: subatomic particles cannot have identical properties, i. e. cannot be degenerate. Pressure when moving 2 identical particles together. Matters after nuclear reactions cease when gravity is pulling everything inward in collapsing star. Low mass stars particles never get close enough to fuse: different energies means different quantum levels. There are different energy levels, two electrons can occupy one energy level (though cant be the same due to a trait called their spin which must be dissimilar) This means even if you shmush shit close together there is a point where it cant get closer, as the energy levels cant be pushed together anymore. This is electron degeneracy pressure: condensing closer any closer would cause a violation of the pauli exclusion principle. White dwarfs: in stars having less mass than ~8 solar masses they eventually run out of fuel.
