What is the remnant supported against collapse by electron degeneracy pressure?
Answer
White Dwarf.
The White Dwarf is the final, extremely dense core remnant left behind by stars with masses less than about eight times that of the Sun after their outer layers have dispersed as a Planetary Nebula. This remnant possesses the mass of the Sun compressed into a volume roughly the size of Earth, making it incredibly dense. It is stable because gravity is halted by a quantum mechanical phenomenon called electron degeneracy pressure. This pressure arises from the Pauli exclusion principle, which prevents electrons from being squeezed into the same quantum state, thereby providing a powerful outward repulsive force that successfully counters the inward pull of gravity, preventing further overall collapse in the absence of fusion.
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