Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- Route map
- 1 Waves versus particles
- 2 Heisenberg and uncertainty
- 3 Schrödinger and matter waves
- 4 Atoms and nuclei
- 5 Quantum tunnelling
- 6 Pauli and the elements
- 7 Quantum co-operation and superfluids
- 8 Quantum jumps
- 9 Quantum engineering
- 10 Death of a star
- 11 Feynman rules
- 12 Weak photons and strong glue
- 13 Afterword – quantum physics and science fiction
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1 The size of things
- Appendix 2 Solving the Schrödinger equation
- Glossary
- Quotations and sources
- Suggestions for further reading
- Photo-credits
- Name index
- Subject index
10 - Death of a star
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- Route map
- 1 Waves versus particles
- 2 Heisenberg and uncertainty
- 3 Schrödinger and matter waves
- 4 Atoms and nuclei
- 5 Quantum tunnelling
- 6 Pauli and the elements
- 7 Quantum co-operation and superfluids
- 8 Quantum jumps
- 9 Quantum engineering
- 10 Death of a star
- 11 Feynman rules
- 12 Weak photons and strong glue
- 13 Afterword – quantum physics and science fiction
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1 The size of things
- Appendix 2 Solving the Schrödinger equation
- Glossary
- Quotations and sources
- Suggestions for further reading
- Photo-credits
- Name index
- Subject index
Summary
One of the most impressive discoveries was the origin of the energy of the stars, that makes them continue to burn. One of the men who discovered this was out with his girl friend the night after he realized that nuclear reactions must be going on in the stars in order to make them shine. She said, ‘Look at how pretty the stars shine!’ He said, ‘Yes, and right now I am the only man in the world who knows why they shine’. She merely laughed at him. She was not impressed with being out with the only man who, at that moment, knew why the stars shine. Well it is sad to be alone, but that is the way of the world.
Richard FeynmanA failed star
In the previous chapter we have seen how quantum mechanics and the exclusion principle provide the basis for an understanding of all the different types of matter we see around us. What is perhaps more surprising is that quantum mechanics and the exclusion principle also provide the key to understanding stellar evolution and the variety of stars. As a prelude to stars we begin with a planet, Jupiter, which in one sense may be regarded as a star that did not quite make it!
Jupiter is by far the largest planet in our solar system. Some impression of its enormous size can be appreciated from the photo-montage shown in Fig. 10.1.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The New Quantum Universe , pp. 207 - 226Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003