Definitions for "Degenerate gas"
Keywords:  quantum, dense, super, behave, gas
A gas in which either free electrons or free neutrons are as densely spaced as allowed by laws of quantum mechanics. Such a gas has extraordinarily high density, and its pressure is not dependent on temperature, as it is in an ordinary gas. Degenerate electron gas provides the pressure that supports white dwarfs against collapse, and degenerate neutron gas similarly supports neutron stars.
Very high-density, high-temperature condition of matter (different from the perfect-gas condition) in which the electrons or nucleons are restricted in that the lower energy states are all occupied and the pressure of the degenerate gas does not depend on its temperature.
A gas which is so dense that its particles occupy all physically possible positions and energies, and exert forces on each other which cause the gas to behave like a liquid, or a solid, with a temperature of absolute zero. Usually used as a suffix with the name of the particles which are degenerate, as in an electron-degenerate gas, or a neutron-degenerate gas.