ENERGY GENERATION IN DENSE ASTROPHYSICAL OBJECTS

Abstract

The problems of stellar evolution remain topical in astrophysics. The processes occurring in matter at all stages of stellar evolution hold many mysteries. One of them is the source of radiation energy in compact stars. The work is devoted to some features of such stars, and calculations are presented on the example of white dwarfs. The peculiarities of the internal structure of white dwarfs, nuclear crystal and peculiarities of the process of crystallization of stellar matter as one of the sources of energy are considered. The second source of energy is considered to be the process of matter flowing from one object to another - accretion. We give a numerical comparative estimate of the magnitude of the released energy during the falling of matter on the surface and during thermonuclear combustion of hydrogen. For compact stars, in particular, white dwarfs, the characteristics of matter are determined by the properties of a degenerate electron gas (fermi gas). The pressure of the degenerate gas contributes to the processes necessary for the stability of white dwarfs. The degenerate state of matter occurs at extreme states inherent in compact stellar objects. In this case it is a nuclear crystal, when the electron shells are "generalized" under the action of high pressure and high density. This is a case in which the electron shells of a nuclear crystal are "socialized" by pressure and high density.  Since white dwarfs are deprived of their own thermonuclear energy sources, they radiate at the expense of heat reserves contained in the matter of the star. The sources of radiation and energy also play an important role in the theory of stellar stability. In this connection, the study of the processes occurring in compact stars is important for determining the properties of matter for fundamental physics.