The Ridiculous Density of White Dwarfs

Video Description

White dwarfs are made of degenerate matter, so compact there isn't room for atoms to exist. And, believe it or not, we discovered that using a model from a completely different context. Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/scienceasylum-we-discovered-this-matter-by-accident Nick Lucid - Host, Writer, Editor, Animator Em Lucid - Producer ________________________________ VIDEO ANNOTATIONS/CARDS Sirius Binary System: https://youtu.be/JPBJPqYCGCA Fermi Paradox: https://youtu.be/SbfQkIeunMY ________________________________ SUPPORT THE SCIENCE ASYLUM Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ScienceAsylum YouTube Membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgNowiGxwwnLeQ7DXTwXPg/join Sign-Up for Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/scienceasylum Advanced Theoretical Physics (Paperback): https://www.lulu.com/shop/nick-lucid/advanced-theoretical-physics-a-historical-perspective/paperback/product-24250687.html Advanced Theoretical Physics (eBook): https://gumroad.com/l/ubSc Merchandise: https://www.scienceasylum.com ________________________________ HUGE THANK YOU TO THESE SUPPORTERS Asylum Counselors: Joe K. Kim Asylum Orderlies: Chloë Joan López, Dhruv Singhal, James Smith, Joel Wolhendler, Medec Hurtz, Peter Engrav Einsteinium Crazies: A.C. S., Benjamin Sharef, Dan Sullivan, Eoin O'Sullivan, Jonathan Lima, Joseph Salomone, Kevin Flanagan, Matias Cveczilberg, Sheila Owen, William Hutchison Plutonium Crazies: Al Davis, Compuart, Ellis Hall, Kevin MacLean, Rex_zane, Rick Myers, Vasile Coman, Vid Icarus Platinum Crazies: Christopher Bennett, Clayton Bruckert, David Johnston, Fabio Manzini, Ishay Oz, Jonathan Reel, Joshua Gallagher, Li-Ce Hu, Marino Hernandez, Mikayla Eckel Cifrese, Mr. Orn Jonasar, Ulrich, Zachary Milne ________________________________ SOURCES Fermi's Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01400221 (German) https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9912229 (English) Helium-3: https://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9503150 Entropy of Ideal Gas: https://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node40.html http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Therm/entropgas.html Fermi-Dirac Distribution: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/quantum/disfd.html Fowler's Paper: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/87/2/114/1058897 Dirac's Paper: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.1926.0133 ________________________________ LINKS TO COMMENTS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBJPqYCGCA&lc=UgynSa80TeG5jmE6sCh4AaABAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBJPqYCGCA&lc=UgwSSxtrZv4tIRoIlq54AaABAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBJPqYCGCA&lc=UgyqAxyb9G6US7fXF8l4AaABAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPBJPqYCGCA&lc=Ugyhe2izV0c-XGIFDfF4AaABAg ________________________________ IMAGE/VIDEO CREDITS Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Enrico Fermi Portrait: https://repository.aip.org/islandora/object/nbla%3A297743 Ralph Fowler Portrait: https://repository.aip.org/islandora/object/nbla%3A298543 ________________________________ TIME CODES 00:00 Intro 00:30 Enrico Fermi 00:52 Fermi Gases 01:25 3rd Law of Thermodynamics 02:20 Quantum Mechanics 03:02 Fermi-Dirac Statistics 04:06 White Dwarfs 04:43 Hydrostatic Equilibrium 05:17 Fermions 06:00 Surface Gravity 06:43 Degenerate Matter 07:34 Electron Degeneracy Pressure 08:37 Closing Thoughts 09:21 Featured Comment