Related papers: A unified theory of cataclysmic variables from sel…
We give a global analysis of mass transfer variations in low-mass X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables whose evolution is driven by the nuclear expansion of the secondary star. We show that limit cycles caused by irradiation of the…
Classical novae are explosive phenomena that take place in stellar binary systems. They are powered by mass transfer from a low-mass, main sequence star onto a white dwarf. The material piles up under degenerate conditions and a…
The orbital evolution of cataclysmic variables in which the companion is illuminated by a fraction of the accretion luminosity consists of irradiation-driven limit cycles on thermal timescales, superimposed on a secular evolution toward…
We conduct numerical simulations of multiple nova eruptions in detached, widely separated symbiotic systems that include an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) companion to investigate the impact of white dwarf (WD) mass and binary separation on…
The nova-like variable AE Aquarii is a close binary system containing a red dwarf and a magnetized white dwarf rotating with the period of 33 seconds. A short spin period of the white dwarf is caused by an intensive mass exchange between…
I review X-ray observations of classical and recurrent novae in outburst. Significant X-ray flux is emitted by the nova shell, with a peak luminosity up to 10**35 erg/cm**2/s in the 0.2-10 keV range.In recurrent nova systems, or in novae…
Thermonuclear supernovae result when interaction with a companion reignites nuclear fusion in a carbon-oxygen white dwarf, causing a thermonuclear runaway, a catastrophic gain in pressure, and the disintegration of the whole white dwarf. It…
Neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes are the remnants of massive stars, which ended their lives in supernova explosions. These exotic objects can only be studied in relatively rare cases. If they are interacting with close companions…
One of the observational evidences in support of the "thermonuclear runaway model" for the classical nova outburst relies on the accompanying nucleosynthesis. In this paper, we stress the relevant role played by nucleosynthesis in our…
Classical novae are powered by thermonuclear runaways that occur on the white dwarf component of close binary systems. During these violent stellar events, whose energy release is only exceeded by gamma-ray bursts and supernova explosions,…
In this paper, the first of a series, we study the stellar dynamical and evolutionary processes leading to the formation of compact binaries containing white dwarfs in dense globular clusters. We examine the processes leading to the…
Cataclysmic variables undergo periodic nova explosions during which a finite mass of material is expelled on a short timescale. The system widens and, as a result, the mass-transfer rate drops. This state of hibernation may account for the…
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…
We investigate whether the recently-observed population of high-velocity white dwarfs can be derived from a population of binaries residing initially within the thin disk of the Galaxy. In particular we consider binaries where the primary…
Context. The explosive burning that drives nova eruptions results in unique nucleosynthesis that heavily over-produces certain isotopes relative to the solar abundance. However, novae are often ignored when considering the chemical…
Nova outbursts are the result of strong thermonuclear runaways on the surface of a white dwarf accreting Hydrogen-rich material from a small mass companion. These giant explosions cause the star to increase its brightness by hundreds of…
Recent observations have found a growing number of hypervelocity stars with speeds of $\approx 1500-2500\,$km\,s$^{-1}$ which could have only been produced through thermonuclear supernovae in white dwarf binaries. Most of the observed…
Outbursts in two classes of interacting binary systems, the symbiotic stars (SSs) and the cataclysmic variables (CVs), show a number of similarities in spite of very different orbital periods. Typical values for SSs are in the order of…
We report on studies of Classical Nova (CN) explosions where we follow the evolution of thermonuclear runaways (TNRs) on Carbon Oxygen (CO) white dwarfs (WDs). We vary both the mass of the WD (from 0.6 M$_\odot$ to 1.35 M$_\odot$) and the…
Classical novae are the results of surface thermonuclear explosions of H-rich material accreted by white dwarfs (WDs) from their low-mass main-sequence or red-giant binary companions. Chemical composition analysis of their ejecta shows that…