Degenerate matter is
matter which has sufficiently high
density that the dominant contribution to its
pressure arises from the
Pauli exclusion principle. The pressure maintained by a body of degenerate matter is called the degeneracy pressure, and arises because the Pauli principle forbids the constituent particles to occupy identical quantum states. Any attempt to force them close enough together that they are not clearly separated by position must place them in different energy levels. Therefore, reducing the volume requires forcing many of the particles into higher-energy quantum states. This requires additional compression force, and so is felt as a resisting pressure. The species of
fermion are sometimes identified, so that we may speak of
electron degeneracy pressure,
neutron degeneracy pressure, and so forth.
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Matter in which the usual atomic structure has broken down because of the weight of overlying material. Two forms of degeneracy exist. The first is electron degenerate matter and occurs when the electrons are forced to try and occupy the same same quantum states as one another. This does not happen, as described by
Chandrasekhar limit.
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