• Featured in Physics
  • Free to Read

On Continued Gravitational Contraction

J. R. Oppenheimer and H. Snyder
Phys. Rev. 56, 455 – Published 1 September 1939
Physics logo
PDFExport Citation

Abstract

When all thermonuclear sources of energy are exhausted a sufficiently heavy star will collapse. Unless fission due to rotation, the radiation of mass, or the blowing off of mass by radiation, reduce the star's mass to the order of that of the sun, this contraction will continue indefinitely. In the present paper we study the solutions of the gravitational field equations which describe this process. In I, general and qualitative arguments are given on the behavior of the metrical tensor as the contraction progresses: the radius of the star approaches asymptotically its gravitational radius; light from the surface of the star is progressively reddened, and can escape over a progressively narrower range of angles. In II, an analytic solution of the field equations confirming these general arguments is obtained for the case that the pressure within the star can be neglected. The total time of collapse for an observer comoving with the stellar matter is finite, and for this idealized case and typical stellar masses, of the order of a day; an external observer sees the star asymptotically shrinking to its gravitational radius.

  • Received 10 July 1939

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.56.455

©1939 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. R. Oppenheimer and H. Snyder

  • University of California, Berkeley, California

See Also

Landmarks—Forgotten Black Hole Birth

David Lindley
Phys. Rev. Focus 13, 23 (2004)

References

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 56, Iss. 5 — September 1939

Reuse & Permissions
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Journals Archive

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×