Ripple Structure in Degenerate Electron Gas Dominated Stars with Intense Magnetic Fields.

We investigate the implications of "ripple structure", i.e., the appearance of oscillating and discontinuous slopes in the thermodynamic variables of a degenerate electron gas, for models of magnetic stars dominated by such a gas. We also examine the effects in these models of the recent discovery by R. L. Ingraham that strong magnetic fields can inhibit degeneracy in an electron gas. The thesis begins with the presentation of a theory of self-gravitating fluids based upon recent work in modern continuum mechanics and thermodynamics on electromagnetic interactions in continuous media. Our theory predicts as a general result the existence of an anisotropic pressure tensor in such a fluid, which is in agreement with the one known to occur in the special case of a free-electron gas in a magnetic field. Furthermore, the theory clarifies the relation between this pressure tensor and the scalar thermodynamic pressure, and provides an unambiguous prescription for the incorporation of these and other variables, such as the magnetization, in the fluid equations of motion. We next show that under suitable assumptions the usual thermodynamic equilibrium and stability conditions for such a fluid follow from the general theory. A definition of local thermodynamic equilibrium is then introduced, and used to develop a local equilibrium statistical mechanics of ideal gases. From this we derive the equations of state for an ideal free-electron gas in a magnetic field. Finally, these equations of state are used in a simplified system of structure equations for model stars in intense magnetic fields. We find the effects of degeneracy -inhibition to be small in these simple models. However, ripple structure is strikingly evident in both the density profiles and mass curves of our model stars, making these curves qualitatively as well as quantitatively different from those of field-free models with the same parameters. We also find in the mass curves narrow forbidden bands for the model stellar masses.