Related papers: CNO "Breakout" and Nucleosynthesis in Classical No…

There is wide agreement that Type Ia supernovae (used as standard candles for cosmology) are associated with the thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars. The nuclear runaway that leads to the explosion could start in a white dwarf…

Binary evolution predicts a population of helium core (M < 0.5 Msol) white dwarfs (WDs) that are slowly accreting hydrogen-rich material from low mass main sequence or brown dwarf donors with orbital periods less than four hours. Four…

The 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne reaction is one of two routes for breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the rp process in accreting neutron stars. Its astrophysical rate depends critically on the decay properties of excited states in 19Ne lying…

We present an extensive study of accretion onto neutron stars in which the velocity of the neutron star and structure of the surrounding medium is such that the Bondi-Hoyle accretion exceeds .001 Msun/y. For most cases, hypercritical…

We have investigated the consequences of merging double white dwarf systems by calculating evolutionary models of accreting white dwarfs. We have considered two cases; a massive C-O white dwarf of ~1M_sun accreting C-O mixture, and a low…

Novae, which are the sudden visual brightening triggered by runaway thermonuclear burning on the surface of an accreting white dwarf, are fairly common and bright events. Despite their astronomical significance as nearby laboratories for…

We report on studies of Classical Nova (CN) explosions where we follow the evolution of thermonuclear runaways (TNRs) on oxygen-neon (ONe) white dwarfs (WDs). Using NOVA, a one-dimensional hydrodynamic computer code, we accrete Solar matter…

Classical novae are the result of thermonuclear flashes of hydrogen accreted by CO or ONe white dwarfs, leading eventually to the dynamic ejection of the surface layers. These are observationally known to be enriched in heavy elements, such…

We discuss the effect of compression on Urca shells in the ocean and crust of accreting neutron stars, especially in superbursting sources. We find that Urca shells may be deviated from chemical equilibrium in neutron stars which accrete at…

The mechanism of classical novae explosions is explained, together with some of their observational properties. The scarce but not null impact of novae in the chemical evolution of the Milky Way is analyzed, as well as their relevance for…

The abundances of the isotopes of the elements C, N and O are mainly affected by the cold CNO cycles in non-explosive stellar situations, or by the hot CNO chains that can develop in certain explosive sites, like classical novae. Helium…

I review various phenomena associated with mass-accreting white dwarfs (WDs) in the view of supersoft X-ray sources. When the mass-accretion rate is low (\dot M_{acc} < a few \times 10^{-7} M_\sun yr^{-1}), hydrogen nuclear burning is…

T~Coronae Borealis is the nearest symbiotic recurrent nova. Twice in the last two centuries, in 1866 and 1946, the accreted material ignited on the surface of the white dwarf via runaway thermonuclear fusion reactions and produced a nova…

White dwarfs (WDs) often show metal lines in their spectra, indicating accretion of asteroidal material. Our Sun is to become a WD in several Gyr. Here, we examine how the solar WD accretes from the three major small body populations: the…

We present first results of three-dimensional (3D-) calculations of turbulent and degenerate hydrogen-burning on top of a C+O white dwarf of one solar mass. The simulations are carried out by means of a code which solves Euler's equation…

We have observed the short-period dwarf novae BW Scl, BC UMa and SW UMa using the Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. In all three systems, the white dwarf is the dominant source of far-ultraviolet flux, even though…

Runaway thermonuclear burning of a layer of accumulated fuel on the surface of a compact star provides a brief but intense display of stellar nuclear processes. For neutron stars accreting from a binary companion, these events manifest as…

The temperature in the crust of an accreting neutron star, which comprises its outermost kilometer, is set by heating from nuclear reactions at large densities, neutrino cooling, and heat transport from the interior. The heated crust has…

Type Ia Supernovae are thought to be thermonuclear explosions of massive white dwarfs (WD). We present the first study of multi-dimensional effects during the final hours prior to the thermonuclear runaway which leads to the explosion. The…

Recent determinations of the total rate of the 12C+12C nuclear reaction show non-negligible differences with the reference reaction rate commonly used in previous stellar simulations. In addition, the current uncertainties in determining…