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Poisson and continuity equation for collapsing polytropes |
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| Aug12-12, 02:31 PM | #1 |
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Poisson and continuity equation for collapsing polytropes
Hello everybody!
I am using in my studies this beautiful book by Kippenhahn & Weigert, "Stellar Structure and Evolution", but I have some problems about collapsing polytropes (chapter 19.11)... After defining dimensionless lenght-scale z by: [itex]r=a(t)z[/itex] and a velocity potential [itex]\psi[/itex]: [itex]\frac{\partial r}{\partial t}=v_r=\frac{\partial \psi}{\partial r}[/itex] the authors rewrite the Poisson equation: [itex]\frac{1}{z^2}\frac{\partial}{\partial z}(z^2\frac{\partial \psi}{\partial z})=4\pi G\rho a^2[/itex] but I think there should be the gravitational potential [itex]\phi[/itex] instead of [itex]\psi[/itex], in fact performing a simple dimensional analysis shows that the left hand side is a square lenght over time, while the right hand side is a square lenght over square time, so I think the equation is wrong... Am I right? Did I miss something? ![]() Help please! Thanks! |
| Aug14-12, 11:36 AM | #2 |
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Ok, i got through it, and there is a mistake, indeed. The function in the differential equation is [itex]\Phi[/itex], the gravitational potential, and not the velocity potential [itex]\psi[/itex]... I found the correct formula... in the following page
![]() Life lesson: always read until end of chapter! (or paragraph at least...) |
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