Studies of Accretion of Solar Material onto White Dwarfs: They are all Growing in Mass
Abstract
Novae are CV systems in which a white dwarf primary is accreting material from a companion. We have accreted Solar composition material onto CO white dwarfs of 0.70, 1.00 and 1.35 Msun with accretion rates from 1.6e-10 to 1.6e-6 Msun per yr. We use both the NOVA and MESA stellar evolution codes. The resulting behavior depends on both the WD mass and accretion rate. We find that all our models undergo recurrent hydrogen flashes although some grow in mass until a helium flash occurs. Nevertheless, in no case is significant mass lost during the flash and the mass of the WD grows toward the Chandrasekhar limit. These results suggest that the single degenerate scenario is a viable channel for progenitors of Type Ia supernova explosions. We also address additional questions such as the lack of observed progenitors in the 2011fe and SN2014J Ia explosions.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #14
- Pub Date:
- August 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014HEAD...1412102S