Equation 4 · Part 11 · A Neutron Star Is a Redshift Standard
Numerator: 2GM
What this part means
The complete quantity above the fraction bar.
Its job in the formula
2GM occurs above the fraction bar. The numerator is divided by the entire denominator below it.
Full expression→Numerator: 2GM→Article meaning
The passage around this formula
The relation itself is old and simple. For a spherical, non-rotating exterior, the surface redshift follows from the mass M and radius R as . — a function of the star’s compactness alone, so that whatever fraction of a percent of uncertainty NICER puts on M and R propagates directly into the redshift. The paper works through six NICER-mapped pulsars this way, and two of them mark the range worth remembering. PSR J0740+6620, the most massive precisely-timed neutron star known, comes in at roughly 2.07\, with a radio-timing mass fixed independently by Shapiro delay to 2.080.07\, [ 4 ] , giving a compactness near 0.25 and a surface redshift 0.40…
Learn the underlying idea
A fraction a/b means a divided by b. The top number is the numerator; the bottom number is the denominator, and it cannot be zero.
Open the illustrated fractions: division written vertically guide →
Sources cited in the surrounding passage
- [4] Refined Mass and Geometric Measurements of the High-mass PSR J0740+6620 ↗
- [3] A NICER View of the Nearest and Brightest Millisecond Pulsar: PSR J0437-4715 ↗
These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.