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where in this case, = (1 + 1 / n) (Note that need not be the adiabatic index
(the ratio of specific heats), and in fact often it is not. This is sometimes a cause
for confusion.)
Gamma
In the case of an isentropic ideal gas, is the ratio of specific heats, known as
the adiabatic index.
An isothermal ideal gas is also a polytropic gas. Here, the polytropic index is
equal to one, and differs from the adiabatic index .
In order to discriminate between the two gammas, the polytropic gamma is
sometimes capitalized, .
To confuse matters further, some authors refer to as the polytropic index,
rather than n. Note that
Bibliography:
www.taftan.com/thermodynamics/POLYTROP.HTM
http://www.answers.com/topic/polytropic-process
http://www.engineersedge.com/thermodynamics/polytropic_process.htm
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~vawter/PhysicsNet/Topics/Thermal/ImportantThermalP
rocess.html
interesting article:
During the 19
th
century many advances in many different fields of physics took
place, creating a new atmosphere conducive to the continuing investigations
into the natural world. One such field, that was investigated rigorously was that
of the stars. Through out the history of mankind, and many years before, it was
evident that the sun had not changed its behavior much. This is a fact that led
to the original idea that one could consider a star a gas sphere, that essentially
must remain in hydrostatic equilibrium with its own gravitation. Any situation
contrary to this would lead to accelerations either inward or outward, which
would cause many short term changes, that have not been observed in normal
stars over the years.
i
Although this is an amazing achievement in ones consideration of the
stars, a full understanding of the complex processes was still not at hand. This
description, though informative, still does not address the question of why stars
radiate, or what a stars energy source may be. Half of this question was
answered with the introduction of quantum theory of blackbody radiation by Max
Plank in 1900.
ii
After the introduction of the blackbody spectrum, it was
determined that a star was essentially radiating according to the rules of a black
body, with the notable exception of the Fraunhofer absorption lines, which were
discovered by Fraunhofer in 1819, and emissions lines, which originate from the
stellar atmosphere and surrounding gas. This, however, still did not explain the
stars energy source. Once it was suggested that a star may live from its
gravitational potential energy, but this is not the case, as such a star would have
only a fraction of the lifetime of a real star. This being the case a new
assumption was made, that the star had some sort of undefined internal energy
source. With this in mind Karl Schwarzschild began his work on radiative
transfer of energy in stellar atmospheres around 1906.
iii
This established the
addition of a new dynamic to stellar structure, whose importance is equal to that
of the first assumption based on hydrostatic equilibrium. It was essentially
determined that the structure of a star was supported by internal pressure as
well as radiation pressure against its gravitational pull.
With this theoretical basis in place another important milestone was
reached at about the same time. Hertzsprung and Russell recognized that all
stars are not of the same mass, temperature, and luminosity and therefore have
a number of differing properties dependant upon these quantities. In measuring
the luminosity and effective temperature of each star they found that stars of the
same class occupy distinguishable places in relation to these quantities. With
the creation of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram many of the classes, such as
the main sequence stars and red giants, that are quite familiar today first
became apparent. Soon after this connection between star class and effective
temperature was established, Eddington established a mass-luminosity
relationship for the main sequence stars and further researched the internal
mechanisms of the stars. In the 1930s the Dirac Fermi statistics for a
degenerate electron gas were published. It was quickly realized that this too
was applicable to the stellar interiors of certain star classes, specifically white
dwarfs of high mass. S. Chandrasekar was instrumental in this determination,
moreover he was also able to find the critical maximum mass for a white dwarf
star, known today as the Chandrasekar mass.
It is at this point in history where the Polytrope representation of stars
first was developed. It is a method that today still lends valuable methods and
insights to the internal structure of stars. It has also proven to be most versatile
in the examination of a variety of situations, including the analysis of isothermal
cores, convective stellar interiors, and fully degenerate stellar configurations.
Even the case of an ideal gas can be related to a polytrope of index n = 3/2.
The justification for such a theory is that, as the name implies, it is extremely
versatile. As will be shown later such a class of models allows for the derivation
and prediction of many stellar properties, which continue to be of significant
interest to the astrophysics community. The derivation of polytropic star models
according to R. Kippenhahn and W. Weigert, as well as S. Chandrasekar and
William K. Rose is outlined in the following section.
The polytropic theory of stars essentially follows out of thermodynamic
considerations, that deal with the issue of energy transport, through the transfer
of material between different levels of the star. We simply begin with the
Poisson equation and the condition for hydrostatic equilibrium:
P
r
M G
r
M
r
r
r
r
2
2
4
Eq. 1 & 2
where P is the pressure, M(r) is the mass of a star at a certain radius r, and is
the density, at a distance r from the center of a spherical star.
iv
Combination of
these equations yields the following equation, which as should be noted, is an
equivalent form of the Poisson Equation.
Eq. 3
From these equations one can then obtain the Lane-Emden equation through
the simple supposition that the density is simply related to the density, while
remaining independent of the temperature. We already know that in the case of
a degenerate electron gas that the pressure and density are ~ P
3/5
.
v
Assuming that such a relation exists for other states of the star we are led to
consider a relation of the following form:
Eq.3
where K and n are constants, at this point it is important to note that n is the
polytropic index. Using this as a basis to classify different interior states within
the star we can also conclude that a non-relativistic degenerate electron gas is
a Polytrope of n = 3/2. Based upon these assumptions we can insert this
relation into our first equation for the hydrostatic equilibrium condition and from
this rewrite equation to:
Eq.5
Where the additional alteration to the expression for density has been inserted
with representing the central density of the star and that of a related
dimensionless quantity that are both related to through the following relation.
Eq.6
1
4
2
2
r
d
dr
r dP
dr
G
_
,
P K
n
1
1
K n
G r
d
dr
r
d
dr
n
n
( ) +
1
]
1
_
,
1
4
1
1
1
2
2
n
Additionally, if place this result into the Poisson equation, we obtain a
differential equation for the mass, with a dependance upon the polytropic index
n. Though the differential equation is seemingly difficult to solve, this problem
can be partially alleviated by the introduction of an additional dimensionless
variable , given by the following:
Eq. 7
Inserting these relations into our previous relations we obtain the famous form
of the Lane-Emden equation, given below:
Eq.8
At this point it is also important to introduce the boundary conditions, which are
based upon the following boundary conditions for hydrostatic equilibrium, and
normalization considerations of the newly introduced quantities and . What
follows for r = 0 is
Eq.9
Eq. 10
Taking these simple relations into consideration, it is also evident that one can
produce additional conditions, based upon a modified form of the Lane-Emden
Equation given by:
Eq. 11
Here it is apparent that as approaches 0 the first term of the equation
approaches . As a result an additional condition must be introduced in order
to maintain the conditions of Eq. 9 and 10 simultaneously:
r a
a
n K
G
n
+
'
( ) 1
4
1
1
1
2
1
2
2
r
d
d
d
d
n
_
,
( ) 0 1
r 0 0
2
2
2
d
d
d
d
n
+
d
d
0
0
Eq. 12
Once the boundary conditions have been determined it is an easy matter to
obtain a number of solutions for the Lane-Emden equation. In addition to
various numerical methods, which will be explained later, this equation actually
has 3 known analytical solutions for polytropes of index n = 0, 1, and 5, given
below:
Eq. 13, 14 & 15
where the subscripts represent the index number n for a specified solution and
the subscripts represent its value for = 0.
These results are useful in a few respects and deal with some actual
state equation for stars, however they are more important for inferring general
forms of the Lane-Emden solutions. Below are the plots of vs. for the
aforementioned solutions, generated using Mathmatica.
Polytrope n = 1
Please note that all the following graphs are modeled after the following: x
axis gives values and the y axis give values. Here we can see that the
function basically follows the same form as that for an index n = 0, with a few
minor differences, however the Polytrope of index n = 0 also terminates at a
finite radius just as is observed in the relation for a Polytrope of index n = 1.
The other main difference that we observe in this case is that the termination
point of the star is markedly larger, at about a value of 3,15 as opposed to the
termination value of about 2,48 for the polytrope n = 0 as seen below.
Polytrope Index n = 0
0
2
1
1 1
5
2
1
6
1 6
1
1
1
3
+
+
,
sin( )
,
,
Here we can see that the values for start at one in accordance with our
boundary conditions and then eventually reduces to = 0. This is essentially
an indicator that the stars material ceases to exist outside of this area as the
density drops to 0 at this point. The next graph shows many similarities to this
one.
Polytrope Index n = 5
Though these two solutions for n = 1 and n = 0 share many characteristics, the
solution for the Polytrope of index n = 5, contains some radically different and
unexpected characteristics. In this case the behavior of the function is markedly
different than that of its predecessors. Here the density of the star initially
decreases rapidly as radius increases but slows rapidly once a value of
around three is reached. At this point the decrease slows continually. Though
it may not be apparent on the graphic provided, the function never reaches 0. It
is therefore evident that a polytropic star of index n = 5 has an infinite radius,
and in reality cannot exist, however the case itself deserves further study.
Despite this fact such a model provides important theoretical perspective
concerning the theory, as one may view this as the border between polytropic
that are physically feasible. It is also of interest to note, as will be shown later,
that such a stellar model has, in spite of the infinite radius, a finite mass.
Additionally, other stellar models, that are created in a layered fashion, where
each layer consists of a Polytrope of a different index, may also utilize this
function for a portion of the star, in which case a finite radius would be possible.
In addition to these relations there are also a number of other
conclusions that one can draw from the polytropic model of stars. For relations
of this type, there exists a relation between the polytropic index, mass of a star
and the radius. It is perhaps evident in the discussion of the analytic solutions
of the polytropic index that one could possibly infer a relation between the
polytropic index of the star and the radius that one would calculate from that
star. In the attempt to find a relation the most immediate result is obtained from
the simple equations of stellar state. Integration of dM/dr on the limit from 0 to
the radius of the star, yields the following expression.
Eq. 16
This equation, is in itself not possible to integrate as we have an r dependence
in the density . However, this problem can be easily alieveated through the
use of the polytropic variables. By replacing and r by , where lambda is the
central density, and a the process of integration can not only be carried out
more easily, but a relation dependent upon central density the maximum Radius
and the other polytropic variables obtained. Integration after such a substition
yeilds the follwoing:
Eq.17
Though this relation is extremely useful in the polytropic model of stars there
are also a number of additional relations, that can augment usefulness of this
relation as well. The first of these is the relationship between the central density
and the average density of the star. It is easily seen, that for the case of a star
the average density is simply given by the division of the total mass through the
total volume. For the assumption of a spherical star, which yeilds a volume of
4/3r^3, and using the relation for the total mass. We find simply that the ratio
of the average density to the central density is given by:
Eq.18
Where is the density and <> is the average density.
Another case, though not nearly as important as the case presented
above, is found in the relationship for the radius of a star. Beginning with the
standard polytropic for the radius (Eq.6) relation and inserting the value for a
we obtain:
M r dr
tot
R
4
2
0
M R
d
d
tot
1
]
1
4
1
3
1
1
< >
M
V
d
d
tot
3
1
1
R
K n
G
n
n
1
]
1
( ) 1
4
1
2
1
2
1
Eq. 20
It is now apparent that the case of n = 1 will, as in the case for the total mass of
the star at n = 3 which will be covered shortly, yield an expression that is
independent of the central density of the star. This relation is extremely
interesting, as it reveals that there is the potential for fundamentally different
classes of stars to exist, whose masses differ, but not the radii. Though this
may seem counterintuitive it is important to note that as the mass in a real star
increases, the equations of state may change, which limits the actual range of
the masses for such a star in practice. This, however, does not diminish from
the theoretically interesting aspects of this model.
There is additionally another case, which is also independent of the
central density as well. For the case of a Polytrope of index n = 5, an analytic
solution is obtainable, as was shown above. Insertion of this relation for into
the equation for total mass yields a relation that in itself appears rather
mundane, however we may also insert the value for the maximum radius, which
has already been determined to be infinite. By evaluation of the resulting limit:
Eq. 21
It is readily apparent that the total mass of this star with an infinite radius yields
the surprising result of a finite mass. Though the significance of this case is in
practice not important, as there are not any stars that exist with an infinite
radius, it is a case of theoretical interest, as it essentially represents a border
case in polytropic star models, as models with n > 5 diverge. This case,
however, is not nearly groundbreaking or interesting as that of the first relation
or the one to be discussed next, it is merely a theoretical model that provides an
interesting point of consideration, though composite models may contain such
polytropes and make use of such a relation.
In addition to the relations that we discussed here there remains an
additional relation between the mass and the radius that remains to be
discussed. In this case we start with the equations for the maximum radius of
the star as well as the total mass for a star of polytropic index n. Between
these two equations, we can eliminate the central density and obtain a
relationship that is independent of this quantity. Through this we obtain the
result given below:
Eq. 21, 22, & 22
M a
d
d
a
K
G
tot
'
1
]
1
4 4 3
3
1
3
1
2
2
5
1
N GM R K
N
n w
w
d
d
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
1
]
1
1 3
0
1
1
0 1
1
1
1
1
4
1
This is one of the most important results of the polytropic theory of stars, as it
not only provides, for a given radius a mass or vice versa, but also provides, in
its simplified form, some of the framework that is used in order to obtain
numerical results for the other intrinsically important values for a star. These
variables and notation are usually used rather universally in the literature
regarding polytropic star models. An additional point that is of paramount
importance is the fact that a polytrope of index n = 3 will yield a mass
expression independent of the radius. As earlier discussed the case where the
n = 3 corresponds to the polytropic star representation of a relativistic
degenerate electron gas. This is essentially the model for the Chandrasekar
mass for stars (given as =1.54 x Suns mass), and this can indeed be obtained
by inserting value obtained from the polytropic models in combination with the
state equation of a relativistic degenerate gas. Though this may not seem
important, as the Chandrasekar border mass is a well known value, it is
important to point out that this derivation for the mass is a result as it is in
complete agreement with a value that was originally calculated through
conventional methods through the use of statistical mechanics. This argument
not only lends credence and further support to the border mass concept, but it
also lends credibility to the polytropic theory of stars, while demonstrating the
effectiveness of the method. This is further bolstered by the fact that there are
no known white dwarfs that exceed this mass. This is a powerful statement with
regard to the theory of stellar states, that has been widely accepted for a
number of years.
This being said there remains one final relation for the central pressure
that is easily derivable from the expression for the central density. In order to
obtain this relation we begin with the expression for the central density given by,
Eq. 25
As this relation is dependant upon K and the central density it is apparent that
we can replace both of these relations by the values determined for the Mass
Radius relation as that determined for the value of the average density in
relation to that of the central density. The average density can then be replaced
by its dependence on the mass and the volume and these relations finally yield:
Eq. 26
Though it is often not mentioned it is interesting to note that this relation can
also be used as a good check on the accuracy of ones stellar model. It is
apparent that as the central pressure changes that the equation of state may
P K P K
n
n
c
n
n
+ +
1 1
P N GM R w
GM
R
w
n
d
d
c n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
1
]
1
1
]
1
'
1 3 1 2
4
2
1
4 1
1
( )
change with it as well. For example if it is known that the electron gas is
degenerate we have two cases for the degeneracy. The first of these is the
relativistic case and the second of these is the non relativistic case. Each of
these possesses its own equation of state that is different the first. For the
relativistic case we have a polytrope of n = 3 and for the non - relativistic case
we have a polytrope of n = 3/2. In any case if we have a star of a known mass,
radius, and general chemical composition one could easily determine the
polytropic index. For the case of n = 3 this is of extreme importance as we are
able to determine the border mass. This gives a maximum value of the central
density before the collapse of a star into a neutron star, and the value for the
non-relativistic case give values that correspond to approaching values of
largest central pressure. At the point where the model exceeds the pressure of
the Chandrasekar mass we know that the model most certainly is that of a
neutron star or just invalid. In any case it provides a nice guide to the models of
the stars that one would be concerned with and also provides a good basis for
the inclusion of models or exclusion of models, based on the validity of the
equations of state at different values for the pressure.
Having demonstrated the importance of the polytropic star relations, it is
now important to consider cases, in which one is not able to use the exact
solutions of the polytropic relations. Examples of such systems would be that of
a non-relativistic electron gas, where, as mentioned earlier, the polytropic index
is n = 3/2. Even the all important case of the fully degenerate electron gas (n =
3) is not covered by the exact solutions. There are a number of ways that this
problem could be attacked. The first of these is to use a program such as
Mathmatica in order to obtain solutions to the Lane Emden equations.
However under the assumption that one does not have access to such a
program there are also a number of other ways that the problem at hand can be
attacked. The first of these methods is to attempt a power series solution for
the Lane-Emden equation:
Eq. 11
One can then proceed to formulate a power series solution to the Lane
Emden equation. Which is of the general form:
Eq. 31
where c subscript n represent arbitrary constants.
By matching the coefficients and inserting the appropriate border conditions, the
resulting solution is given by
2
2
2
d
d
d
d
n
+
( ) ... + 1
1
6 120
2 4
n
( )
c
n
n
Eq. 32
One can see immediately that this result is consistent with the analytical
solution of n = 0, as the additional terms for the series solution are n dependant.
These solutions, though not the only available for use in determination of
physical quantities, are generally satisfactory for representing different
polytropic indices.
A method that is readily available is a variation of the Euler method, for
second order differential equations. In considering this method on creates an
arbitrary step, suitable to the task at hand, and from initial values of the
equation extrapolates a solution. In this case one considers the initial value of
d/d as well as . At different itterations one can now extrapolate values from
the functions slope. This yields a recursive relation for this method of:
Eq. 33
where h is the step size and the primes represent derivatives of the function .
Using the initial values and the Lane-Emden equation, one can then find
approximate values of the function and for the next step. Reinserting these
values yields a new value of allowing one to extrapolate another value.
Repetition of this process allows one to crate an approximate data curve,
thereby describing a polytrope of a certain type.
Although this method may be of use it is quite evident that there remain a
number of other techniques that may be superior, which result in numerical
results that one can use in order to determine the necessary factors that may be
placed in the various relations, which were introduced in the preceding section,
in order to make predictions for different stellar properties. The first, and also
the most used throughout the literature (See Schwarzschild, Chandrasekar,
Kippenhahn and Weigert) is the Runge-Kutta Method. In order to determine the
numerical solutions of these equations, one must first begin with initial values as
in the preceding section. The first of these is given by our normalization
condition, and the second of these is acquired through observation of the Lane-
Emden equation, in the expanded form, given by equation 13. As the
normalization conditions requires that (0)=1 it is apparent that the second term
of the equation will diverge if the value of d(0)/d is not equal to zero. It is
therefore apparent that a second condition exists, which makes the
determination of solutions through numerical methods possible. The general
procedure for the Runge-Kutta method is as follows. As the Lane-Emden
equation is a second order differential, one must use an expanded form.
According to the methods outlined in a number of mathematical texts the
various values of , d/d, for certain values of can be determined through a
step mehtod. The size of the steps h are taken to be constant and provide an
iterated view of the function ().
vi
' ' ' '
' '
i i i
i i i
h
h
+
+
+
+
1
1
Eq. 31
Where the separate coefficients k are given by,
Eq. 32
Calculation of these parameters is in this case not limited to the exact polytropic
solutions, but can be tabulated for any polytropic index n, note that n of the
Runge-Kutta method is not n the polytropic index. As an example a list of a
number of solutions is included to below.
Where each of these variables represent the variables defined in the primary
relations for polytropic relations.
vii
Now in order to convince the reader of the validity of such relations, in
terms of actual theory data agreement, the model of a fully degenerate white
dwarf is considered. As indicated earlier such a model is that of a polytrope
with index n = 3. It is also of use to remind the reader that the mass relation
introduced earlier produces the Chandrasekar mass, which defines the
maximum mass of an exhausted star, before which it would simply collapse
further until it would reach the state of a neutron star. Inserting the appropriate
values into the mass radius relations, given by Equations 21, 22, and 23, we
find the radius of the star to be on the order of 28km - 40km.
4
This radius is
necessarily much smaller than that of a typical star, but larger than that of a
neutron star, on the order of ~10km. This being a crude, however satisfying,
example of a polytropic star models practical use, is only one of many
conceivable uses for such a theory.
Throughout this survey on the Polytropic theory of stars, it has been
demonstrated that in many respects these models provide a versatile and
accurate method for the determination of many stellar parameters. Though the
n ? ?(d?/d?) ?(central)/?(average) o_w_n N_n w_n - [(n+1) ? [ d?/d? ] ]^-1
0 2.4494 4.8988 1 0.333 - 0.11936 0.5
1 3.14159 3.14159 3.28987 - 0.63662 0.26227 0.5
1.5 1.65375 5.99071 5.99071 132.3843 0.42422 0.7714 0.53849
3 6.89485 2.01824 54.1825 2.01824 0.36394 11.05666 0.85432
4 14.97755 1.79723 622.408 0.729202 0.4772 247.558 1.66606
5 Infinite 1.73205 Infinite 0 Infinite Infinite Infinite
( )
n n n n n n
n n n
h
k k k k
h
+
+
+ + + +
+
1 1 2 3 4
1
6
2 2 ' '
'
' ' ' ( , , ' )
' '
( . , . ' , ' . )
( . , . ' , ' . )
( , ' , ' . )
n n n n
n n
n n n n n n
n n n n n n
n n n n n n
f
k
k f h h k
k f h h k
k f h h k
+ + +
+ + +
+ + +
1
2 1
3 2
2 3
5 5 5
5 5 5
5
Lane-Emden equation itself only has three known solutions, this difficulty can
easily be overcome with the introduction of a number of numerical solutions,
that can be found through a numerous variety of methods, for which
approximate solutions can be found to varying degrees of accuracy. This being
the case the polytropic theory of Stars has proven to be a versatile and able
theory worthy of its name.
i
Martin Schwarzschild. Structure and Evolution of Stars.
Princeton University Press, Princeton 1958
ii
H.H. Voigt. Abri der Astronomie (5. berarbeitete Auflage).
Bibliografisches Institut und F.A. Brockhaus A.G., Mannheim 1991.
iii
William K. Rose. Advanced Stellar Astrophysics.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK) 1998.
iv
R. Kippenhahn, A. Weigert. Stellar Structure and Evolution.
Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg und Berlin 1990.
v
S. Chandrasekar. An Introduction the Study of Stellar Structure.
Chicago University Press, Chicago 1931.
vi
William E. Boyce, Richard C. DiPrima. Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary
Value Problems. John Wiley and Sons, New York 1997
vii
Branden T. Allen. Various Lectures given at Gttingen, Germany on the
polytropic theory of Stars.
PROBLEMS OF TERMODINAMICS PROCESS
A mass of 0.6 [g] of air are in a cylinder with a piston 3 pressure [bar], a temperature of
176 [oC] and an initial volume of 260 [cm3]. For each point calculate the final state, the
work, the heat involved in the process and the type of process that question.
a. Adiabatic expands until the initial pressure is 1 [bar] according to the PVK where k =
constant = 1.4.
b. The pressure is reduced to one tenth of the initial pressure unchanged in volume.
c. Is compressed to one quarter of its original volume assuming that change is in
accordance with the relationship PV1.3 = constant.
d. The pressure is increased to twice the initial value according to the PV = constant
relationship.
e. Is compressed at constant pressure and temperature is tripled.
f. The volume expands 5 times the initial value according to the PV = constant relationship
where P +3 = 5 V.
4