degenerate matter

(Astronomy) astronomy the highly compressed state of matter, esp in white dwarfs and neutron stars, supported against gravitational collapse by quantum mechanical effects

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Translations

materia degenere

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References in periodicals archive

Electron degeneracy pressure is the mechanism which supposedly prevents the further collapse of white dwarfs.

Physical properties of stars and stellar dynamics

Theory has it that, if a neutron star born after a supernova blast is too massive for neutron degeneracy pressure to keep it bouncy against the neutron star's own gravity, the quarks that composed the neutrons now can save the shriveling stellar-corpse from being squeezed out of existence.

Strange beasts in the stellar zoo

But degeneracy pressure will not support stars much bigger than the Sun.

Anatomy of a supernova

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