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This page intentionally left blank Cosmic Catastrophes Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe Second Edition Fromsupernovaeandgamma-rayburststotheacceleratingUniverse, this is an exploration of the intellectual threads that led to some of the most exciting ideas in modern astrophysics and cosmology. This fully updated Second Edition incorporates new material on binary stars, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, wormholes, quantum gravity, andstringtheory.Itcoverstheoriginsofstarsandtheirevolution;the mechanisms responsible for supernovae, and their progeny; neutron stars,andblackholes.Itexaminesthetheoreticalideasbehindblack holes and their manifestation in observational astronomy, and presentsneutronstars inall theirvariety knowntoday. Inadditiontorecentdevelopmentsinastrophysics,thisbookalso covers the physics of the twentieth century, discussing quantum theoryandEinstein’sgravity,howthesetwotheoriescollide,andthe prospectsfortheirreconciliationinthetwenty-firstcentury.Thiswill be essential reading for undergraduate students in astronomy and astrophysics, and an excellent, accessible introduction for a wider audience. J. Craig Wheeler is the Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor of Astronomy and Distinguished Teaching Professor in the UniversityofTexasatAustin,wherehewasChairofthedepartment from 1986 to 1990. He is President of the American Astronomical Society and will serve from 2006 to 2008. He has edited books on supernovae and accretion disks and published a novel, The Krone Experiment, that has been made into a film of the same title (www. thekroneexperiment.com). Cosmic Catastrophes Exploding Stars, Black Holes, and Mapping the Universe Second Edition .......................................................................................................................... j. craig wheeler The University of Texas at Austin CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo Cambridge University Press TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridg e.org /9780521857147 ©J.C.Wheeler2007 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublishedinprintformat 2007 ISBN-13 978-0-511-26911-0 eBook(EBL) ISBN-10 0-511-26911-0 eBook(EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-521-85714-7 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-85714-7 hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. To mysons, DiekW.,the scientist, andJ. Robinson,the artist. Contents Preface pagexi 1 Setting the stage: starformation and hydrogen burning insingle stars 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background 2 1.3 Evolution 16 2 Stellar death:the inexorable gripof gravity 27 2.1 Red giants 27 2.2 Stellar winds 32 2.3 Quantumderegulation 35 2.4 Core collapse 37 2.5 Transfiguration 39 3 Dancing withstars: binarystellar evolution 42 3.1 Multiple stars 42 3.2 Stellar orbits 43 3.3 Roche lobes:the cultsymbol 44 3.4 The first stageof binaryevolution: the Algol paradox 46 3.5 Masstransfer 47 3.6 Largeseparation 50 3.7 Small separation 50 3.8 Evolution of the secondstar 51 3.9 Common-envelope phase 52 3.10 Gravitational radiation 54 vii viii Contents 4 Accretion disks:flat stars 55 4.1 Thethird object 55 4.2 Howadisk forms 56 4.3 Letthere belight –and X-rays 58 4.4 Asourceof friction 58 4.5 Alifeof itsown 61 4.6 Fat centers?the DAFzoo 65 5 White dwarfs:quantum dots 68 5.1 Singlewhitedwarfs 68 5.2 Cataclysmicvariables 69 5.3 Theorigin ofcataclysmic variables 72 5.4 Thefinal evolution ofcataclysmic variables 75 6 Supernovae: stellar catastrophes 79 6.1 Observations 79 6.2 Thefate of massivestars 84 6.3 Element factories 87 6.4 Collapse and explosion 88 6.5 Polarization and jets:newobservations and newconcepts 93 6.6 Type Iasupernovae: thepeculiar breed 102 6.7 Light curves: radioactivenickel 111 7 Supernova1987A: lessonsand enigmas 118 7.1 Thelarge magellaniccloud awakes 118 7.2 Theonset 120 7.3 Lessons fromthe progenitor 128 7.4 Neutrinos! 132 7.5 Neutronstar? 133 7.6 Thelight curve 134 7.7 This cow’snotspherical 135 7.8 Ringsand jets 136 7.9 Otherfirsts 139 8 Neutronstars: atomswithattitude 141 8.1 History – theory leads,for once 141 8.2 Thenature of pulsars– notlittle green men 143 8.3 Pulsars andsupernovae – agame of hideand seek 147