Related papers: Accreting White Dwarfs
Explosions of sub-Chandrasekhar-mass white dwarfs are one alternative to the standard Chandrasekhar-mass model of Type Ia supernovae. They are interesting since binary systems with sub-Chandrasekhar-mass primary white dwarfs should be…
A white dwarf (WD) gains substantial angular momentum during the accretion process that grows it toward a Chandrasekhar mass. It is therefore expected to be quickly rotating when it ignites as a Type Ia supernova. The thermal and shearing…
Observations of Type Ia supernovae (SN~Ia) combined with modeling of dynamics, light curves and spectra continue to point to the difficult conclusion that SN~Ia result from degenerate ignition in a carbon/oxygen white dwarf of the…
We show that long-period dwarf novae offer a promising route for making Type Ia supernovae. For typical dwarf nova duty cycles d ~ 0.1 - 0.01, mass is accreted by the white dwarf mainly during dwarf nova outbursts at rates allowing steady…
Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a prominent role in understanding the evolution of Universe. They are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of mass-accreting carbon-oxygen white dwarfs (CO WDs) in binaries, although the mass donors of the…
Type Ia supernovae have become an indispensable tool for studying the expansion history of the universe, yet our understanding of the explosion mechanism is still incomplete. We describe the variety of discussed scenarios, sketch the most…
Type Ia supernovae (SNIa) are thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs in binary systems. They are central to galactic chemical evolution and serve as standardizable candles in cosmology, yet their progenitors remain uncertain. In this…
Type Ia supernovae are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of accreting white dwarfs that reach a critical mass limit. Despite their importance as cosmological distance indicators, the nature of their progenitors has remained…
Can a white dwarf, accreting hydrogen-rich matter from a non-degenerate companion star, ever exceed the Chandrasekhar mass and explode as a type Ia supernova? We explore the range of accretion rates that allow a white dwarf (WD) to…
Despite their unique astrophysical relevance, the outcome of white dwarf binary mergers has so far only been studied for a very restricted number of systems. Here we present the results of a survey with more than two hundred simulations…
Rapid bursts at optical wavelengths have been reported for several accreting white dwarfs, where the optical luminosity can increase by up to a factor 30 in less than an hour fading on timescales of several hours, and where the energy…
Accreting white dwarf binaries (AWDs) comprise cataclysmic variables (CVs), symbiotics, AM CVns, and other related systems that host a primary white dwarf (WD) accreting from a main sequence or evolved companion star. AWDs are a product of…
The precise progenitor system of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), whether it is a white dwarf (WD) close to the Chandrasekhar limit or substantially less massive, has been a matter of debate for decades. Recent research by our group on the…
The observed sub-class of "superluminous" Type Ia supernovae lacks a convincing theoretical explanation. If the emission of such objects were powered exclusively by radioactive decay of 56Ni formed in the explosion, a progenitor mass close…
Despite the significance of Type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) in many fields in astrophysics, SNeIa lack a theoretical explanation. The standard scenarios involve thermonuclear explosions of carbon/oxygen white dwarfs approaching the Chandrasekhar…
Interacting double white dwarf binaries can give rise to a wide variety of astrophysical outcomes ranging from faint thermonuclear and Type Ia supernovae to the formation of neutron stars and stably accreting AM Canum Venaticorum systems.…
Type Ia supernovae play a significant role in the evolution of the Universe and have a wide range of applications. It is widely believed that these events are the thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs close to the…
Today, Type Ia supernovae are essential tools for cosmology, and recognized as major contributors to the chemical evolution of galaxies. The construction of detailed supernova progenitor models, however, was so far prevented by various…
The accretion induced collapse (AIC) of a white dwarf into a neutron star has been invoked to explain gamma-ray bursts, Type Ia supernovae, and a number of problematic neutron star populations and specific binary systems. The ejecta from…
For carbon-oxygen white dwarfs accreting hydrogen or helium at rates in the range ~1-10 x 10^(-8) Msun/y, a variety of explosive outcomes is possible well before the star reaches the Chandrasekhar mass. These outcomes are surveyed for a…