The effect of this breakdown of the classical conception can best
be seen by passing at once to the final limit when the star becomes
a single system or molecule in state No. 1. Like an excited atom
collapsing with discontinuous jumps such as those which give the
Balmer Series, the star with a few last gasps of radiation will reach
the limiting state which has no state beyond. This does not mean that
further contraction is barred by the ultimate particles jamming in
contact, any more than collapse of the hydrogen atom is barred by
the electron jamming against the proton; progress is stopped because
the star has got back to the first of an integral series of possible
conditions of a material system. A hydrogen atom in state No. 1 cannot
radiate; nevertheless its electron is moving with high kinetic energy.
Similarly a star when it has reached state No. 1 no longer radiates;
nevertheless its particles are moving with extremely great energy.
What is its temperature? If you measure temperature by radiating power
its temperature is absolute zero, since the radiation is nil; if you
measure temperature by the average speed of molecules its temperature
is the highest attainable by matter. The final fate of the white dwarf
is to become at the same time the hottest and the coldest matter in
the universe. Our difficulty is doubly solved. Because the star is
intensely hot it has enough energy to cool down if it wants to; because
it is so intensely cold it has stopped radiating and no longer wants to
grow any colder.
We have described what is believed to be the final state of the white
dwarf and perhaps therefore of every star. The Companion of Sirius
has not yet reached this state, but it is so far on the way that the
classical treatment is already inadmissible. If any stars have reached
state No. 1 they are invisible; like atoms in the normal (lowest) state
they give no light. The binding of the atom which defies the classical
conception of forces has extended to cover the star. I little imagined
when this survey of Stars and Atoms was begun that it would end with a
glimpse of a Star-Atom.
_Printed in England at the_ OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
_by John Johnson Printer to the University_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account