Dependence of Classical Nova Properties on Accretion Rate

Mathematics – Logic

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Scientific paper

White dwarfs (WDs) accreting matter from a normal stellar companion offer observationally and theoretically accessible testbeds for a wide variety of stellar and accretion physics. In addition, these systems have bright outbursts which can be characterized in external galaxies and closely resemble the leading candidate systems for Type Ia supernova progenitors, whose population properties form a cornerstone of present and future fundamental cosmological research. Recent calculations by Townsley & Bildsten met with success in understanding the WD surface temperature. This same work included the first calculation of consistent equilibrium core tempreatures, Tc, for accreting WDs, a quantity essential for understanding outburst and population properties of the WD primaries in CVs. It was shown that Tc depends strongly on accretion rate and only weakly on WD mass, opening a new opportunity for understanding classical nova outburst properties, which might directly reflect Tc due to its important influence on the size of accumulated layer and the nuclear processes which set off the runaway. The binary orbital period Porb is thought to provide a good indication of accretion rate, but the actual relation and its general robustness are still under debate. This has important consequences for understanding the relationship between angular momentum lost via stellar winds in isolated stars and in short period binaries. Here we discuss how observed classical nova properties including the outburst rate and the abundances of proton-capture processed species in the ejecta depend on Porb. Even with the small sample of well-studied systems which have known Porb, we observe clear trends with Porb which are well explained by the theoretically understood relation between Tc and accretion rate. This understanding points the way for future research on classical nova properties. Supported by the NSF Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics under grant PHY02-16783.

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