ParabolicDensity/Axisymmetric/Structure
Parabolic Density Distribution
Part I: Gravitational Potential
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Part II: Spherical Structures
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Part III: Axisymmetric Equilibrium Structures
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Part IV: Triaxial Equilibrium Structures (Exploration)
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Axisymmetric (Oblate) Equilibrium Structures
Setup
Here we specifically discuss the case of configurations that exhibit concentric ellipsoidal iso-density surfaces of the form,
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that is, axisymmetric (, i.e., oblate) configurations with parabolic density distributions. Much of our presentation, here, is drawn from our separate, detailed description of what we will refer to as Ferrers potential.
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This can be rewritten in terms of T1 Coordinates. In particular, defining, and,
Because we expect contours of constant enthalpy to coincide with contours of constant density in equilibrium configurations, we should expect to find that,
If the "radial" enthalpy profile resembles our derived spherical enthalpy profile, we should expect to find that,
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Gravitational Potential
As we have detailed in an accompanying discussion, for an oblate-spheroidal configuration — that is, when — the gravitational potential may be obtained from the expression,
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where, in the present context, we can rewrite this expression as,
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Index Symbol Expressions
The expression for the zeroth-order normalization term , and the relevant pair of 1st-order index symbol expressions are:
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where the eccentricity,
The relevant 2nd-order index symbol expressions are:
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We can crosscheck this last expression by drawing on a shortcut expression,
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Meridional Plane Equi-Potential Contours
Here, we follow closely our separate discussion of equipotential surfaces for Maclaurin Spheroids, assuming no rotation.
Configuration Surface
In the meridional plane, the surface of this oblate-spheroidal configuration — identified by the thick, solid-black curve below, in Figure 1 — is defined by the expression,
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for |
Expression for Gravitational Potential
Throughout the interior of this configuration, each associated = constant, equipotential surface is defined by the expression,
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Letting,
we can rewrite this expression for as,
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Potential at the Pole
At the pole, . Hence,
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General Determination of Vertical Coordinate (ζ)
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Given values of the three parameters, , , and , this last expression can be viewed as a quadratic equation for . Specifically,
where,
The solution of this quadratic equation gives,
Should we adopt the superior (positive) sign, or is it more physically reasonable to adopt the inferior (negative) sign? As it turns out, is intrinsically negative, so the quantity, , is positive. Furthermore, when goes to zero, we need to go to zero as well. This will only happen if we adopt the inferior (negative) sign. Hence, the physically sensible root of this quadratic relation is given by the expression,
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Here we present a quantitatively accurate depiction of the shape of the (Ferrers) gravitational potential that arises from oblate-spheroidal configurations having a parabolic density distribution. We closely follow the discussion of equi-gravitational potential contours that arise in (uniform-density) Maclaurin spheroids. In order to facilitate comparison with Maclaurin spheroids, we will focus on a model with …
[NOTE: Along the Maclaurin spheroid sequence, this is the eccentricity that marks bifurcation to the Jacobi ellipsoid sequence — see the first model listed in Table IV (p. 103) of [EFE] and/or see Tables 1 and 2 of our discussion of the Jacobi ellipsoid sequence. It is unlikely that this same eccentricity has a comparably special physical relevance along the sequence of spheroids having parabolic density distributions.]
The largest value of the gravitational potential that will arise inside (actually, on the surface) of the configuration is at . That is, when,
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So we will plot various equipotential surfaces having, , recognizing that they will each cut through the equatorial plane at the radial coordinate given by,
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where,
The solution to this quadratic equation gives,
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Note that, again, the physically relevant root is obtained by adopting the inferior (negative) sign, as has been done in this last expression.
Equipotential Contours that Lie Entirely Within Configuration
For all , the equipotential contour will reside entirely within the configuration. In this case, for a given , we can plot points along the contour by picking (equally spaced?) values of , then solve the above quadratic equation for the corresponding value of .
In our example configuration, this means … (to be finished)
Hydrostatic Balance (Algebraic Condition)
Following our separate discussion of the equilibrium structure of Maclaurin spheroids, and given that our solution of the Poisson equation fixes the expression for , the algebraic expression ensuring hydrostatic balance is,
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where, is the centrifugal potential. NOTE: Generally when modeling axisymmetric astrophysical systems (see our accompanying discussion of simple rotation profiles) it is assumed that does not functionally depend on . Here, our other constraints — for example, demanding that the configuration have a parabolic density distribution — may force us to adopt a -dependent rotation profile.
Here, we know that the adopted parabolic density distribution gives rise to a gravitational potential of the form,
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Hence,
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We presume that the enthalpy profile, as well as the density profile, can be rewritten in terms of T1 Coordinates. In particular, defining, and,
Because we expect contours of constant enthalpy to coincide with contours of constant density in equilibrium configurations, we should expect to find that,
If the "radial" enthalpy profile resembles our derived spherical enthalpy profile, we should expect to find that,
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Adopting this last expression for the enthalpy, we have,
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Hence,
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At the pole of the configuration — that is, when — this statement of hydrostatic balance becomes,
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For centrally condensed configurations, it is astrophysically reasonable to assume that is of the form such that the centrifugal potential goes to zero when . Adopting that assumption here means that the Bernoulli constant has the value,
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Plugging this expression for back into the general statement of hydrostatic balance gives,
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Let's set …
This gives,
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2nd Try
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Keep in Mind, from Above
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From our presentation of the Eulerian formulation of the Euler equation in cylindrical coordinates, we see that in steady-state axisymmetric flows, the two relevant equilibrium conditions are,
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Vertical Component
We will focus, first, on the vertical component. Specifically, since both and are known, the vertical gradient of the (unknown) scalar pressure is
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Multiply thru by :
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where (unlike above) we are using the dimensionless lengths, and . Continuing to streamline this function, we have,
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So, let's see what happens if we assume that the pressure has the form,
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in which case,
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REMINDER: From above …
And, in the case of the spherically symmetric equilibrium configuration, the pressure distribution derived by 📚 Prasad (1949) has the form,
In the context of rotationally flattened configurations, therefore, we might expect the (vertical) pressure distribution to be of the form,
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Radial Component
Start with,
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Multiply thru by :
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EXACT!
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Continuing to streamline this function, we have,
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Determine Specific Angular Momentum Distribution
Now, from our analysis of the vertical component, we determined that,
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The radial derivative of this function is,
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We hypothesize that,
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Now, from our layout of relevant index symbol expressions, let's see if the coefficients of various ζ-dependent terms go to zero.
FIRST:
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SECOND:
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THIRD:
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3rd Try
From the above, "2nd Try" discussion of the radial component, we can write the following "EXACT!" relation,
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EXACT!
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Now, our earlier examination of the radial derivative of suggests that the left-hand-side of this expression should be of the form,
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LHS |
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where it is understood that the coefficients, and , are both functions of . This should be compared with the "EXACT!" expression for the RHS after multiplying through by the expression for the dimensionless density, that is,
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RHS |
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Because we are not expecting to see a term that is independent of , this suggests that the term inside the large square brackets must be zero. This leads to an expression for the distribution of specific angular momentum of the form,
According to our accompanying discussion of Simple rotation profiles, the corresponding centrifugal potential is given by the expression,
(Here, we ignore the integration constant because it will be folded in with the Bernoulli constant.) | |||||||||||||||
It also means that the RHS expression simplifies to the form,
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This should be compared to our earlier examination of the radial derivative of , namely,
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4th Try
In our accompanying discussion of Ferrers Potential, we have derived the expression for the gravitational potential inside (and on the surface of) a triaxial ellipsoid with a parabolic density distribution. Specifically, for
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In this same accompanying discussion, we plugged this expression for the gravitational potential into the Poisson equation and demonstrated that it properly generates the expression for the parabolic density distribution. For the axisymmetric configuration being considered here — with the short axis aligned with — these two relations become,
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where, and . (This matches the expression derived above.)
Discuss scalar relationship between the enthalpy and the effective potential.
As has been detailed in an accompanying discussion of solution techniques, a configuration will be in dynamic equilibrium if,
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constant |
Given that, in our particular case, we have analytic expressions for and for , we deduce that, to within a constant, the enthalpy distribution is given by the expression,
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Now, according to our related discussion of index symbols,
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Hence,
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Examining the radial derivative …
YES !!! This matches the "radial" pressure-gradient, below. Now, examining the vertical derivative …
HURRAY !!! This matches the "vertical" pressure-gradient, below. |
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Plug in …
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Hence, examination of the radial component leads to the following suggested expression for the pressure:
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While examination of the vertical component leads to the following suggested expression for the pressure:
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Tentative Summary
Known Relations
| Density: |
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| Gravitational Potential: |
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| Specific Angular Momentum: |
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| Centrifugal Potential: |
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| Enthalpy: |
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| Vertical Pressure Gradient: |
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| Radial Pressure Gradient: |
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where, and , and the relevant index symbol expressions are:
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where the eccentricity,
Examine Behavior of Enthalpy
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Try to Construct Pressure Distribution
Drawing from the expression for the vertical pressure gradient, namely,
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try the following pressure expression:
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The vertical derivative of this expression is,
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See Also
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Appendices: | VisTrailsEquations | VisTrailsVariables | References | Ramblings | VisTrailsImages | myphys.lsu | ADS | |