Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit
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The Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit is an upper bound to the mass of stars composed of neutron-degenerate matter (neutron stars). It is analogous to the Chandrasekhar limit. The Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) limit is estimated to be approximately 3 to 5 solar masses. The uncertainty in the value reflects the fact that the equations of state for neutron-degenerate matter aren't known with high accuracy; closed-form solutions don't exist, and numerical simulation is difficult. Below this limit, the weight of the neutron star can be supported by short-range repulsive neutron-neutron interactions mediated by the strong force, in combination with the quantum degeneracy pressure of neutrons. Above the TOV limit, an object either collapses to form a black hole, or changes composition and is supported by some other form of degeneracy pressure (for example, quark degeneracy if it becomes a quark star). Because the properties of hypothetical more exotic forms of degenerate matter are even more poorly known than those of neutron-degenerate matter, most astrophysicists assume, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that a neutron star above the limit transitions directly into a black hole.
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