The equation that describes the structure and maximum mass limit of neutron stars, taking into account general relativity and neutron degeneracy pressure. It predicts that neutron stars cannot exceed about 2-3 solar masses before collapsing into black holes.
Named after Richard Tolman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and George Volkoff, who developed this equation in 1939 by extending earlier work on stellar structure to include relativistic effects and neutron degeneracy pressure.
The TOV equation revealed that even neutron degeneracy has limits - beyond about 2-3 solar masses, not even the strongest known force can prevent collapse into a black hole! This equation predicted neutron stars decades before they were discovered and helps us understand the most extreme matter in the universe.
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