Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
978986 | Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications | 2009 | 11 Pages |
We point out a remarkable analogy between the limiting mass of relativistic white dwarf stars (Chandrasekhar’s limit) and the critical mass of bacterial populations in a generalized Keller–Segel model of chemotaxis [P.H. Chavanis, C. Sire, Phys. Rev. E 69 (2004) 016116]. This model is based on generalized stochastic processes leading to the Tsallis statistics. The equilibrium states correspond to polytropic configurations similar to gaseous polytropes in astrophysics. For the critical index n3=d/(d−2)n3=d/(d−2) (where d≥2d≥2 is the dimension of space), the theory of polytropes leads to a unique value of the mass McMc that we interpret as a limiting mass. In d=3d=3, we find Mc=202.8956…Mc=202.8956… and in d=2d=2, we recover the well-known result Mc=8πMc=8π (in suitable units). For M