White dwarfs resist gravitational collapse primarily due to electron degeneracy pressure, which prevents electrons from expanding radially between ions, such as carbon. The discussion highlights that electromagnetism plays a crucial role in maintaining charge neutrality; if electrons were to migrate outward, it would create a positive charge in the inner region and a negative charge in the outer region, resulting in a strong restoring force. This restoring force effectively counteracts any tendency for electron expansion, ensuring stability within the white dwarf structure.
PREREQUISITESAstronomers, astrophysicists, and students studying stellar evolution and the physical principles governing white dwarfs.
As my last paragraph said:MarkL said:the answer above was: "restoring force bringing back neutrality"
Does this mean,
bring back (to neutrality) = zero electron expansion or prevents electron expansion
or
expand till (neutrality) = electrons expand till force equals fermi pressure = some electron expansion
I'm not sure what question you are asking that isn't answered by that.Ibix said:It is possible that you might find that there is a slight variation in local net charge with depth as various different effects push or pull slightly differently on different particles. I don't know for certain.