Disabling Nuclear Fusion to Address Stellar Misconceptions

In recent decades, several misconceptions have arisen about the role of fusion in stars. These misconceptions suggest that nuclear fusion keeps stars in force balance with gravity, and that fusion is why stars are hot and luminous. To explore the true cause of these behaviors, we apply numerical modeling to the evolution of stars without fusion. These stars have a static composition, and they do not receive energy from nuclear reactions. Nonetheless, stars without fusion bear strong resemblances to their conventional counterparts, and they readily demonstrate the bifurcation of stellar evolution outcomes with respect to a critical mass.