Science Colloquium
From Plasmas to Solids:The Astrophysical Equation of State
Florian Maisonneuve
Bishop's University
Friday, October 6, 2006
12:30 - 1:20 PM
Hamilton Room 302
In order to model stars accurately, it is important to use extremely precise models describing their internal physics. One of the most important physical inputs is the Equation of State (EOS). The EOS completely specifies the thermodynamic properties of the stellar material as a function of two independent variables (e.g., pressure and temperature). Depending on the values of these variables, the material can exhibit radically different behaviors. For example, the matter can be dominated by electron degeneracy, radiation forces, Coulombic interactions or relativistic effects. In this talk, I will discuss our implementation of the Hydrogen, Helium and Carbon EOSs and describe the various physical regimes that are of interest for each of these elements. Finally I will talk about the extremely problematic parts of the EOS where molecular, atomic, and ionized species (of hydrogen) can co-exist!
