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The Theoretical Frequency of Classical Nova Outbursts as a Function of White Dwarf Mass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Michael Politano
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Arizona State University, U.S.A.
Mario Livio
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Technion, Haifa, ISRAEL
James W. Truran
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, U.S.A.
Ronald F. Webbink
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, U.S.A.

Extract

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Using the distribution of white dwarf masses in zero-age cataclysmic variables (CVs) calculated by Politano and Webbink (these proceedings), the relative frequency of classical nova outbursts as a function of white dwarf mass is calculated. These results are compared with the results obtained by Truran and Livio (1986), who calculated the same function, but used a distribution of white dwarf masses in CVs calculated from a Salpeter initial mass function and a particular progenitor mass-white dwarf mass relationship for single stars.

We wish to calculate the frequency of classical nova outbursts as a function of white dwarf mass. To do this, we require two quantities: 1) the recurrence frequency of classical nova outbursts (i.e., how many outbursts per year) and 2) the white dwarf mass spectrum in classical novae (i.e., number of novae per white dwarf mass). We discuss each of these in turn.

Type
3. Theory
Copyright
Copyright © Springer-Verlag 1990

References

Eggleton, P. 1982, private communication.Google Scholar
Politano, M. and Webbink, R.F. 1988, in IAU Colloquium I1Ą, White Dwarfs, ed. Wegner, G., (Springer-Verlag: Berlin), p.440.Google Scholar
Truran, J.W. and Livio, M. 1986, Ap.J., 308, 721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar