* Pulsars are neutron stars: They are the collapsed cores of massive stars after a supernova explosion. Their immense gravity crushes the atoms, leaving behind a dense ball of neutrons.
* White dwarfs are electron degenerate matter: They are the remnants of less massive stars. Their electrons are packed extremely close together due to the Pauli exclusion principle, but they still have some atomic structure.
Density comparison:
* Pulsar density: Around 10^17 kg/m^3 (that's 100 million billion kilograms per cubic meter!)
* White dwarf density: Around 10^9 kg/m^3
This means that a teaspoonful of pulsar material would weigh millions of tons, while a teaspoonful of white dwarf material would weigh thousands of tons.
In short, pulsars are much more densely packed than white dwarfs. This is a result of the extreme gravitational forces that act on the collapsed core of a massive star, squeezing the matter into an incredibly dense state.
