Larson-Penston Self-similar Gravitational Collapse

Abstract

Using numerical integration, in 1969 Penston [22] and Larson [17] independently discovered a self-similar solution describing the collapse of a self-gravitating asymptotically flat fluid with the isothermal equation of state $p=k\varrho$, $k>0$, and subject to Newtonian gravity. We rigorously prove the existence of such a Larson-Penston solution.