Radial Pulsations of Finite Isothermal Gas Spheres

The pulsational properties of finite isothermal gas spheres contained in an ambient, external medium are studied. An error in a previous analysis is corrected, and the eigenvalue problem is solved by direct numerical integration. Adiabatic pulsations, which have not been previously considered, as well as isothermal pulsations are investigated. The calculations are extended to a large dimensionless radius (x0 = 100) in order to determine the systematic variations of the pulsational properties. Tables of the eigenvalues plus characteristic features of the eigenfunctions are given as functions of x0, and the fundamental and first harmonic eigenfunctions are displayed graphically.