Physics – Nuclear Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003aps..dnp1wb003t&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, Division of Nuclear Physics Fall Meeting, October 30 - November 1, 2003, Tucson, Arizona, MEETING ID:
Physics
Nuclear Physics
Scientific paper
The outbursts of classical novae are understood to be a consequence of thermonuclear runaways occurring in accreted hydrogen shells on the surfaces of white dwarfs in close binary systems. The carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle hydrogen burning sequences which dictate the energetics also act to constrain the energy release on a dynamic timescale. Envelope enrichments in the abundance levels of carbon, oxygen, and neon, such as are observed to be a characteristic feature of nova ejecta, are thus required to power the fastest novae. The mechanism by which the dredge-up of CO and ONe matter from the underlying white dwarf gives rise to these enrichments has been the subject of considerable research through the years. The idea that the heavy element abundance enrichment that characterizes classical nova envelopes in outburst originates from the interaction between large-scale flows in the accreted H/He envelope and gravity waves at the interface between the envelope and the underlying C/O white dwarf has recently been explored numerically (Rosner et al. 2001; Alexakis et al. 2003). The shear flow is found to amplify the waves, which eventually form cusps and break. The wave breaking injects a spray of C/O into the super-incumbent H/He. These authors find that sufficient mixing can occur to explain the levels of heavy element abundances found to characterize the ejecta of novae. We also review the current status of our understanding of the light curves of fast novae, the nucleosynthesis products, and the evolution of novae in outburst.
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