What specific physical force halts the collapse of a core remnant below roughly $3 M_{\odot}$ to form a neutron star?
Answer
Neutron degeneracy pressure.
When the massive core of a progenitor star collapses under gravity, if its mass remains below approximately three solar masses ($3 M_{\odot}$), the collapse is arrested by a quantum mechanical effect known as neutron degeneracy pressure. This pressure arises because neutrons, being fermions, resist being squeezed into the same quantum state, as dictated by the Pauli exclusion principle. This enormous internal resistance prevents further compression, resulting in an extremely dense but stable object—the neutron star—which packs solar masses into a diameter of only about 20 kilometers.
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