Someone argues: "A white dwarf of mass (carbon-oxygen, ) has radius R 1.05 10^ 4

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Astrophysics & Cosmology · Stellar death and compact objects · Stellar death and compact objects

Stars from the Inside, Ch White dwarfs: the relativistic polytrope, the Chandrasekhar mass and a cooling clock

Problem

Someone argues: "A white dwarf of mass

1.3\,M_\odot

(carbon-oxygen,

\mu_e=2

) has radius

R \approx 1.05\times10^{4}\,\mathrm{km}\left(\frac{1.3}{0.6}\right)^{-1/3} = 8.11\times10^{3}\,\mathrm{km},

using the standard white-dwarf mass-radius formula." Find the error in this working, and state qualitatively how the true radius compares with the quoted value.

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