Astronomy and Astrophysics - An Introductory Survey, A lecture series by Prof. G. Srinivasan - Lecture 17 - Quantum Stars

The discoveries made by a young man from Madras, and the implications thereof, shook some of high priests of Astrophysics in the early 1930s. S Chandrasekhar, working for his Ph.D. at Trinity College, Cambridge not only found the answer to the stability of stars, his calculations also clearly hinted at the ultimate collapsed state of stars! Ultimately this would herald the era of high energy astrophysics in the form of supernovae, neutron stars and black holes. ABOUT THE LECTURE By 1923, the stability of stars was well understood. Stars are stable because the inward pull due to gravity is balanced by the combined pressure of gas and radiation. What will happen to a star when it is no longer able to generate heat? This was the question confronting astronomers when a highly dense star, with a density of a million grams per cubic centimeter, was discovered in 1925. Around the same time, great discoveries were being made in the new Quantum Theory of matter. This lecture tells the story of how Fowler (in Cambridge) and young Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (a young college student) answered this question by invoking the new quantum theory. This lecture will also discuss the truly revolutionary discovery by Chandrasekhar in 1930. NEXT FOUR LECTURES L 18. Neutron Stars and Supernovae L 19. Pulsars L 20. Journey to the center of a neutron star L 21. Maximum mass of a neutron star 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