Portfolio Assignment 3 Simple Stellar Models

r Here we will develop a simple stellar model where: = c (1 R ) We will be comparing results to standard solar models. The following constants will prove useful in such comparisons:

Constants for this Lecture Radius = 6.960e10 cm Mass = 1.989e33 g mH (mass of hydrogen) = 1.67e-24 g (mean molecular weight) = 0.62 k (Stefan-Boltzman Constant) = 1.3807e-16 erg/deg

Mass

First we calculate the total mass of the star in terms of the central density using the equation of mass continuity.
r

M (r) =
0 r

(r)4r 2 dr c (1

(1) (2) (3) (4)

r )4r 2 dr R 0 r c r 2 2 r 3 dr M (r) = 4 c R 0 4r 3 3r m(r) = c (1 ) 3 4R M (r) =

Which gives a total mass in terms of the central density (plug in R for r): M = c R3 c 3 3M = R3 (5) (6)

Pressure
Now lets nd a central pressure from the equation of hydrostatic equilibrium by plugging in our solution for m(r) and integrating: dP dr dP dr dP dr = = = GM (r)(r) r2 3 3r r G 4r c (1 4R )c (1 R ) 3 r2 4r r 2 4r 2 r3 G2 ( + + 2) c 3 R 3R R 2 2 r 4r r3 4r r + 2 dr + 3 R 3R R 0 2r 2 7r 3 r4 Pc G2 ( + ) c 3 9R 4R2 (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

P (r) = P (r) =

In order to nd the central pressure we will solve for the pressure at the surface, which, relative to the pressure in the center is zero. Plugging in R (total radius) for our radius gives: 2R2 7R2 R2 + )=0 3 9 4 5R2 P (0) = Pc G2 ( =0 c 36 5R2 ) Pc = G2 ( c 36 3M 5R2 )Pc = G( 3 )2 ( ) R 36 P (0) = Pc G2 ( c (12) (13) (14) (15)

Temperature

If we assume that the model star will obey the ideal gas relation, then we can calculate the temperature, T(r) in terms of the central density, c . The ideal gas law says in terms of the mean molecular weight gives: P = kT mH (16)

T =

P mH k

(17) (18)

where P is the pressure, is the mean molecular weight, mH is the mass of a hydrogen atom and k is Boltzmanns constant. If we plug in for our density and our pressure we nd: mH (Pc G2 ( 2r c 3 T = r kc (1 R ) mH G 3M 5 Tc = ( ) k R 36
2

7r 3 9R

r4 )) 4R2

(19) (20)

Solar Values

We can calculate central values for a solar model using the relationships derived above. Then, we can compare these to the following values from more advanced solar models: Central Values Advanced Model: c = 156.3 Pc Tc g cm3 dyne = 2.382e17 cm3 = 1.581e7K (21) (22) (23) (24)

Using the solar values given in the beginning of this writeup we can calculate the central values for a rough solar model using the relations we have calculated: Central Value This Model: 3M g c = = 5.63 3 (25) 3 R cm dyne 5 3M (26) Pc = G( 2 )2 ( ) = 4.48e15 R 36 cm3 mH G 3M 5 ( ) = 5.96e6K (27) Tc = k R 36

The Plot Thickens

We can view these results graphically as well. For each plot, the radius has been normalized to solar radii and the ordinate has been renormalized to total mass (for the case of mass) and to central values for both the pressure and temperature. A problem is noted in the temperature plot, where the temperature increases at a radius of r=0.99 Rs olar. This is not a physical result and is likely due to a numerical problem with the calculations that I have been unable to track down. I have plotted the results for the simple model as a solid line and the results from a Standard Solar Model (BS2005-OP) as a dashed line. The mass plot is normalized to solar masses, the pressure plot is normalized to central pressure and the temperature plot is normalized to central temperature. Considering the relative simplicity of the model, it appears to do fairly well at modeling the standard solar model. The general trends appear to match well, which is quite remarkable considering that we have accounted for no nuclear processes or radiative transfer. And now, without further ado, the plots...

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Figure 1: Mass versus radius plot. The general trend of the mass plot agrees well with the standard solar model. The mass in the standard model seems to increase more quickly than that of the simple model we have analyzed. For example, our model predicts that half of a solar mass is enclosed at around 0.60 solar radii while the standard model predicts half of a solar mass is enclosed at around 0.25 solar radii.

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Figure 2: Pressure versus radius plot. The general trend of the pressure plot agrees well with the standard solar model as well. The pressure in the standard model appears to drop o more quickly than our simplied model. Our simple model reaches half of the central pressure at a radius of 0.45 solar radii while the standard model reaches half of the central pressure at 0.15 solar radii.

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Figure 3: Temperature versus radius plot. This model has the poorest match with the standard model. Note how the temperature increases from the core then decreases once it reaches a radius of about 0.10 solar radii. Also note that the simple model is articially cuto at 0.9 solar radii since numerical problems result in a spuriously increasing temperature past 0.9 solar radii.