Introduction

We discuss the evolution of both stellar components of cataclysmic variables (CVs) and symbiotic stars from formation to termination, identifying the modes and estimating the rates of mass tranfer as functions of the period of the system, and suggesting how the composition of the nova ejecta depends on the rate of mass transfer, the processes of mixing between accreted material and material in the underlying white dwarf, and the mass-transfer, mixing, and prior outburst history of the system.

Left completely out of the discussion is the disk component which, in CVs and perhaps in some symbiotic stars, mediates mass transfer between the mass donor and the white dwarf accretor. We begin with an outline of the topics to be discussed.

1. Definitions: CVs are here defined as close binary systems in which one component is a CO or ONe white dwarf and the other is a Roche-lobe-filling (or nearly Roche-lobe-filling) star which can be a main-sequence star, a small hydrogen-rich white dwarf, a red giant (Algol-like CV) or a helium white dwarf or helium main sequence star (helium CV). In symbiotic stars, the companion of the white dwarf is a red giant or Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) star which, in general, does not fill its Roche lobe.

2. […]