Astronomy and Astrophysics - An Introductory Survey, A lecture series by Prof. G. Srinivasan - Lecture 10 - Quantum Statistics and the Fermi-Dirac distribution

Fermi-Dirac statistics describe the energy distribution of a non-interacting gas of identical particles with half-integer spin angular momentum. Despite the many successes of this in explaining various terrestrial systems, the most spectacular application of Fermi-Dirac has been, without doubt, in the area of stellar physics, in particular in explaining the physics of stellar remnants (white dwarfs, neutron stars). ABOUT THE LECTURE The dependence of the pressure of the gas on the density and temperature plays a crucial role in the evolution of the stars as they age. The evolution is very different for stars in which the gas obeys classical Boyle’s law, compared to stars in which the gas obeys the rules of quantum physics. As a prelude to a detailed discussion of the life history of stars in the subsequent lectures, in this lecture, we discuss the Fermi-Dirac distribution, which is obeyed by electrons, protons, neutrons, etc. ABOUT THE LECTURE SERIES This lecture series is organized by the Astronomical Society of India as a part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations. Aimed at undergraduate and graduate students, this series of talks by renowned astrophysicist and teacher, Prof G. Srinivasan, starts from the first principles of Physics and builds up the subject rigorously to the present state of our understanding. Series website: https://astron-soc.in/srini-ana The website hosts a question bank as well as a list of suggested reading for each lecture (prepared by Dr. Sushan Konar) ABOUT THE SPEAKER Professor G. Srinivasan In a research career spanning more than five decades, his interests have spanned many aspects of physics and astrophysics. He is a passionate teacher and has authored two outstanding Astronomy texts titled ‘What Are The Stars?’ and ‘Can Stars Find Peace?’ He is a Past President of the Astronomical Society of India, and a Past President of the Division on Space and High Energy Astrophysics of the International Astronomical Union. In his distinguished career he has worked at the University of Chicago, USA; the IBM Research Laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland; Chalmers University of Technology, Goteborg, Sweden; the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, England and the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru Follow us on social media at https://twitter.com/asipoec https://www.facebook.com/asi.poec/ This series is also supported by the IAU OAE Centre in India https://twitter.com/astro4edu_India https://www.facebook.com/OAE-Center-India-105698322030674