Explosion of White Dwarfs

We present models for Type I supernova light curves based on the explosion of partially solid white dwarfs in close binary systems. Studies of such explosions show that they leave bound remnants of different size. Our results reproduce quite well the maximun luminosities, the expansion velocities and the shape of the light curve. As the two basic parameters that govern the light curve, the ejected mass and the mass of⁵⁶Ni produced, are variable our models reproduce the slow and fast subclasses of “classical” Type I supernovae.