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Specifically for the electron degeneracy pressure, m is substituted by the electron mass m e and the Fermi momentum is obtained from the Fermi energy, so the electron degeneracy pressure is given by = / /, where ρ e is the free electron density (the number of free electrons per unit volume).
While degeneracy pressure usually dominates at extremely high densities, it is the ratio between degenerate pressure and thermal pressure which determines degeneracy. Given a sufficiently drastic increase in temperature (such as during a red giant star's helium flash ), matter can become non-degenerate without reducing its density.
This pressure is called the electron degeneracy pressure and does not come from repulsion or motion of the electrons but from the restriction that no more than two electrons (due to the two values of spin) can occupy the same energy level. This pressure defines the compressibility or bulk modulus of the metal [Ashcroft & Mermin 8]
The Chandrasekhar limit is a consequence of competition between gravity and electron degeneracy pressure. Electron degeneracy pressure is a quantum-mechanical effect arising from the Pauli exclusion principle. Since electrons are fermions, no two electrons can be in the same state, so not all electrons can be in the minimum-energy level.
This exotic form of matter is known as degenerate matter. The immense gravitational force of a star's mass is normally held in equilibrium by thermal pressure caused by heat produced in thermonuclear fusion in the star's core. In white dwarfs, which do not undergo nuclear fusion, an opposing force to gravity is provided by electron degeneracy ...
Conversely, two or more different states of a quantum mechanical system are said to be degenerate if they give the same value of energy upon measurement. The number of different states corresponding to a particular energy level is known as the degree of degeneracy (or simply the degeneracy) of the level.
Instead, it is supported only by electron degeneracy pressure, causing it to be extremely dense. The physics of degeneracy yields a maximum mass for a non-rotating white dwarf, the Chandrasekhar limit— approximately 1.44 times M ☉ — beyond which electron degeneracy pressure cannot
This pressure is known as the degeneracy pressure. In this sense, systems composed of fermions are also referred as degenerate matter . Standard stars avoid collapse by balancing thermal pressure ( plasma and radiation) against gravitational forces.