Kim, I am quoting from the article I posted earlier. "Under the extreme conditions which prevail within a white dwarf, the laws of quantum mechanics become important. Quantum mechanics is the study of how subatomic particles (such as electrons, protons, and neutrons) behave. Subatomic particles do not always obey the same laws as large objects. Hence, the laws of quantum mechanics sometimes seem contrary to common sense. One rule of quantum mechanics (known as the Pauli exclusion principle) is this: Two identical electrons, located in the same region of space, cannot have the same velocity. In a dense white dwarf, where the electrons are packed close to each other, some of the electrons are forced to have high velocities, and hence provide a high pressure. In a degenerate object such as a white dwarf, the fast-moving high-energy electrons provide a pressure which is independent of temperature. Even as the temperature of a white dwarf falls toward absolute zero, the Pauli exclusion principle demands that the high-velocity electrons keep moving at the same speed. Hence, the pressure exerted by the electrons remains constant as the temperature falls." Erik --- kimharch@cut.net wrote: From: "Kim" <kimharch@cut.net> To: "'Utah Astronomy'" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] White dwarfs and YOU Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:55:28 -0700 Thanks, Chuck. Why, though, the extremely high temperatures? -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2009 5:49 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] White dwarfs and YOU They aren't using "burning" fuel at all any more. They are merely radiating residual energy. They are so small, that it takes billions of years for it to all radiate away. On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:36 PM, Kim <kimharch@cut.net> wrote:
can anyone succinctly describe for me the internal processes that cause white dwarves to "burn" if it isn't nuclear fusion?
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