An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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The collapse of the core of a very massive star which results in a black hole accompanied by a very energetic → gamma-ray burst.

From collaps(e) + (st)ar.

1) (v.) To fall inward abruptly under its own → gravity.
2) (n.) The act of falling inward abruptly under its own gravity. → gravitational collapse; → core collapse.

From L. collapsus, p.p. of collabi "fall together," from → com- "together" + labi "to fall, slip."

1) Mod.Pers. rombidan "to fall apart, to crumble," Hamadâni, Malâyeri: rommidan, Lori remese "get destroyed," remane "to destroy a building," possibly cognate with E. crumble "to break into small fragments," from O.E. cruma, akin to D. kruim, Ger. Krume "crumb," L. grumus "heap of earth," root of Fr. grumeau "lump."
2) Rombeš from present stem romb "collapse" + noun suffix -eš.

The idea, central to the → Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum theory, whereby at the moment of observation the → wave function changes irreversibly from a description of all of the possibilities that could be observed to a description of only the event that is observed. More specifically, quantum entities such as electrons exist as waves until they are observed, then "collapse" into point-like particles. According to the Copenhagen Interpretation, observation causes the wave function to collapse. However it is not known what causes the wave function to collapse. Same as → wave collapse.

→ collapse; → wave function.

A star that has undergone → collapse.

Collapsed p.p. of → collapse; → star.

Setâré, → star; rombidé p.p. of rombidan, → collapse.

A → sequential star formation model involving → massive stars and → H II regions. The energetic ultraviolet photons from a massive star born in a → molecular cloud drive a spherical → ionization front radially outward from the star at a velocity much higher than the → sound speed in the cold neutral gas. The supersonic expansion of the H II region through the surrounding neutral gas creates a → shock front, sweeping up an increasingly massive and dense shell of cool neutral gas. This is the collect phase of the process in which the H II region simply acts like a snowplough. If the expansion of the H II region continues for long enough, the surface density of the shell increases to the point where the shell becomes self-gravitating. The shell is then expected to collapse and fragment. Individual fragments may then enter a non-linear collapse phase, possibly forming massive stars. This model was first proposed by Elmegreen & Lada (1977, ApJ 214, 725), who used a one-dimensional analysis. Whitworth et al. (1994, MNRAS, 268, 291) developed an analytical model for the collect and collapse process which predicts the fragmentation time, the size, number, and mass of the fragments (see also Elmegreen 1998, in ASP Conf. Ser. 148, Origins, eds. Woodward et al., p. 150 and references therein). → stimulated star formation, → triggered star formation.

→ collect; → collapse; → model.

The collapse of a → massive star's core at the → final → stages of its → evolution when the core consists entirely of → iron (→ iron core). Since iron cannot burn in → nuclear reaction, no energy is generated to support the → gravitational collapse. The result will be a → supernova explosion of → Type Ib, → Type Ic, or → Type II. See also → core-collapse supernova.

→ core; → collapse.

A supernova arising from the → core collapse of a → massive star. Same as → Type Ib, → Type Ic, or → Type II supernova.

→ core; → collapse; → supernova.

An early phase in the process of star formation which begins when the mass of a → molecular cloud → clump exceeds the → Jeans mass. The collapse is initially → optically thin to the thermal emission from → dust grains, and the compressional heating rate is much smaller than the cooling rate by the → thermal radiation. The collapse proceeds → isothermally. The isothermal condition is broken when the central density reaches about 10^-13 g cm^-3 and a small region at the center of the cloud starts to become → opaque. The heat generated by the collapse in this region is no longer freely radiated away, and the compression becomes approximately → adiabatic. The central temperature and pressure then begin to rise rapidly, soon becoming sufficient to decelerate and stop the collapse at the center. There then arises a small central core, called the → first core, in which the material has stopped collapsing and is approaching → hydrostatic equilibrium. Outside this core, the material is still nearly isothermal and continues to fall inward almost in → free fall. Consequently a shock front arises at the boundary of the core, where the infalling material is suddenly stopped. The initial mass and radius of the core are about 10³¹ g and 6 x 10¹³ cm, respectively, and the central density and temperature are about 2 x 10^-10 g cm^-3 and 170 K, respectively. As the collapse proceeds, the core grows in mass due to the infall of the surrounding material; at the same time, however, the core radius decreases because of radiative energy losses from the outer layers of the core. The process leads to the → second collapse (R. B. Larson, 1969, MNRAS 145, 271).

→ first; → collapse.

Collapse of a mass of material as a result of the mutual → gravitational attraction of all its constituents.

→ gravitational; → collapse.

A → gravitational collapse leading to the formation of a → protostar.

→ protostellar; → collapse.

An early evolutionary period in the process of star formation which succeeds the → first collapse. When the mass of the → first core has increased by about a factor 2 and the radius has decreased by a similar factor, the central temperature of the core reaches about 2000 K. At this point the → molecular hydrogen begins to dissociate into atoms. This reduces the → adiabatic index (γ) below the critical value 4/3, with the result that the material at the center of the core becomes unstable and begins to collapse. Most of the gravitational energy generated by this collapse goes into the → dissociation of H₂ molecules, so that the temperature rises only slowly with increasing density. In this second collapse phase, as in the first, the density distribution in the collapsing region becomes more and more sharply peaked at center, and the time scale becomes shorter and shorter with increasing central density. The central collapse of the core continues until the hydrogen molecules are nearly all dissociated and γ again rises above 4/3. The central pressure then rises rapidly and once again becomes sufficient to decelerate and stop the collapse at the center. A small core in the → hydrostatic equilibrium then arises, bounded by a shock front in which the surrounding infalling material is suddenly stopped. The initial mass and radius of the second core are about 3 x 10³⁰ g (1.5 x 10^-3M_sun) and 9 x 10¹⁰ cm (1.3 R_sun) respectively, and the central density and temperature are about 2 x 10^-2 g cm^-3 and 2 x 10⁴ K, respectively. The second core will evolve into a → young stellar object (R. B. Larson, 1969, MNRAS 145, 271).

→ second; → collapse.

In the → Copenhagen Interpretation of → quantum mechanics, the change undergone by the → wave function of a particle when a measurement is performed on the particle. The wave function collapses to one that has a definite value for the quantity measured. If the → position of the matter wave is measured, it collapses to a localized → pulse. If → momentum is measured, it collapses to a wave with a definite momentum. Same as → collapse of the wave function.

→ wave; → collapse.