Degenerate matter is an exotic form of matter found in the cores of massive stars, where particles are packed so tightly that the primary source of pressure is quantum. It includes metallic hydrogen, white dwarf matter, neutronium, strange matter, and quark matter. Its pressure is only partially dictated by temperature and is stable even at absolute zero. Quark stars are a possible candidate for dark matter.
Degenerate matter is a bizarre form of exotic matter created in the cores of massive stars, where atoms or even subatomic particles are packed so tightly that the primary source of pressure is no longer thermal but quantum, dictated by the limitations set by the exclusion principle by Pauli, who asserts that no two particles can occupy the same quantum state. It is also useful in some circumstances to treat the conduction electrons in metals as degenerate matter, due to their high density. Degenerate matter, particularly metallic hydrogen, has previously been created in the laboratory, using pressures in excess of one million atmospheres (>100 GPa).
Degenerate matter is unique in that its pressure is only partially dictated by the temperature, and in fact the pressure would remain even if the temperature of the matter were reduced to absolute zero. This is very different from the ideal gases we learn in physics class, where temperature and pressure/volume are closely related.
In order of increasing density, common forms of degenerate matter include metallic hydrogen, found in large quantities in the cores of massive planets such as Jupiter and Saturn; white dwarf matter, found in white dwarfs, that will one day become our Sun; neutronium, found in neutron stars, end point of stellar evolution for stars 1.35 to about 2.1 solar masses; strange matter; or quark matter, also hypothesized to be inside very massive stars.
In white dwarfs, the material is referred to as electron-degenerate matter, because there is not enough energy to collapse electrons into atomic nuclei and produce neutronium. In neutron stars, the material is called neutron-degenerate matter, because the pressure is so great that electrons fuse with protons to create matter composed of nothing but neutrons. Under normal conditions, free neutrons degenerate into a proton and an electron in about 15 minutes, but under the tremendous pressure of a neutron star, neutron-only matter is stable.
The most extreme form of degenerate matter, strange matter, is thought to exist in quark stars, stars ranging in mass from neutron stars to black holes, in which the constituent quarks of the neutrons decouple and create a soup of quarks. Quark stars are a possible candidate for the mysterious dark matter that makes up most of the mass of observed galaxies.
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