Chapter 5 Theory of Stellar Evolution（第五章的恒星演化理论）.pdf

1 ⋅ Stellar Interiors  Copyright (2003) George W. Collins, II 5 Theory of Stellar Evolution . . . One of the great triumphs of the twentieth century has been the detailed description of the life history of a star. We now understand with some confidence more than 90 percent of that life history. Problems still exist for the very early phases and the terminal phases of a stars life. These phases are very short, and the problems arise as much from the lack of observational data as from the difficulties encountered in the theoretical description. Nevertheless, continual progress is being made, and it would not be surprising if even these remaining problems are solved by the end of the century. 112 5 ⋅ Theory of Stellar Evolution To avoid vagaries and descriptions which may later prove inaccurate, we concentrate on what is known with some certainty. Thus, we assume that stars can contract out of the interstellar medium, and generally we avoid most of the detailed description of the final, fatal collapse of massive stars. In addition, the fascinating field of the evolution of close binary stars, where the evolution of one member of the system influences the evolution of the other through mass exchange, will be left for another time. The evolution of so-called normal stars is our central concern. Although the details of the theory of stellar evolution are complex, it is possible to gain some insight into the results expected of these calculations from some simple considera