Mario Livio
Publications

Novae and white dwarfs in the publication record

90 entries1977 – 2005 61 refereed

Novae and cataclysmic variables are the largest single subject in the record and the one it begins from. A nova is a white dwarf in a close binary that has pulled enough hydrogen off its companion for the base of that accumulated layer to ignite. The star brightens by several magnitudes over a few days, fades over months, and survives — which is what separates a nova from a supernova, and what makes the same system able to do it again.

That survival is the interesting part, because it means the white dwarf keeps a running balance. Each eruption throws off some mass and each quiet interval adds some back, and whether the balance runs positive or negative decides whether the star is slowly climbing toward the Chandrasekhar limit or slowly retreating from it. The answer is not obvious from observation, and a large fraction of these papers exist to constrain it.

What the papers address

Four questions recur. The first is the role of the accretion rate: a 1982 paper on the role of the accretion rate in nova outbursts sets up the problem that a slow drizzle and a fast stream produce different eruptions from the same star. The second is mixing — whether the accreted hydrogen stays as a clean layer or dredges up carbon and oxygen from the dwarf beneath it, which changes the energy released and the composition of the ejecta.

The third is magnetic. A 1983 paper on the influence of magnetic fields on nova outbursts belongs to a strand running through the 1980s asking what a strong field does to the accretion flow, to the geometry of the burning layer, and to the shape of the shell that is thrown off. The fourth is the origin of these binaries at all: how a pair of stars ends up close enough for mass transfer without merging first, addressed directly in the 1982 papers on the origin of low-mass cataclysmic binaries and on star–planet systems as their relatives.

Recurrent novae get separate treatment, and the reason is the mass balance again. If a system erupts every few decades instead of every few tens of thousands of years, the accretion rate is high and the ejected mass per eruption small, which is the configuration most likely to be gaining mass. A 1987 paper on the nature of recurrent novae — appearing twice in this index, in two different venues — is the reference point for that argument.

How the group changes over time

The subject does not so much develop as widen. The earliest entries are about the eruption itself; by the mid-1990s the papers are about what the eruption reveals — the geometry of the binary, the spin of the dwarf, the shaping of planetary nebulae by a companion. By the end of the 1990s the questions have become structural: close binary white dwarf systems in 2000, a search for collimated jets in cataclysmic variables in 2004, and disks and planets around massive white dwarfs in 2005, which is a nova paper only in the sense that it is about the same class of star.

That last drift matters for reading the index. The white dwarf stops being the object under study and becomes a place where other things — disks, jets, planets — can be observed under conditions unavailable anywhere else.

The 90 entries listed below are the subset of the 325-entry index that this site classifies under novae and white dwarfs, dated 1977 to 2005. An entry lands here when its title names a nova, a cataclysmic variable or a white dwarf, and a paper about a nova in a binary that later becomes a supernova progenitor is counted in both places instead of being assigned to one. The grouping is this site’s, not the author’s.

Four ragged concentric paper rings expanding outward from a small dense white disc

The 90 entries

  1. Livio, M., Pringle, J. E., & Wood, K., “Disks and Planets around Massive White Dwarfs,” ApJ, 632, L37, (2005).
  2. Hillwig, T., Livio, M., & Honeycutt, R. K., “A Search for Collimated Jets in Cataclysmic Variables,” PASP, 116, 397 (2004).
  3. Saffer, R. A., Livio, M., & Yungelson, L. R., “Close Binary White Dwarf Systems,” in 11th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, ASP Conf. Ser. 169, eds. S.-E. Solheim, & E. G. Meistas (San Francisco: ASP), 260 (2000).
  4. Lépine, S., Shara, M. M., Livio, M., & Zurek, D., “First Direct Measurement of Acceleration in the Outflow of a Nova: U Scorpii (1999),” ApJ, 522, L121 (1999).
  5. Livio, M., “Spins of White Dwarfs and Pulsars,” in Workshop on Magnetic CVs, (ASP), p. 247 (1999).
  6. Saffer, R. A., Livio, M., & Yungelson, L., “Close Binary White Dwarf Systems: Numerous New Detections and their Interpretation,” ApJ, 502, 394 (1998).
  7. Livio, M. & Pringle, J. E., “The Rotation Rates of White Dwarfs and Pulsars,” ApJ, 505, 339 (1998).
  8. DellaValle, M. & Livio, M., “The Spectroscopic Differences between Disk and Thick Disk Novae,” ApJ, 506, 818 (1998).
  9. Livio, M., “Novae as Distance Indicators,” in The Extragalactic Distance Scale, eds. M. Livio et al. (Cambridge: CUP), p. 186, (1997).
  10. Yungelson, L., Livio, M., & Tutukov, A., “On the Rate of Novae in Galaxies of Different Types,” ApJ, 481, 127 (1997).
  11. Chen, W., Shrader, C. R., & Livio, M., “The Properties of X-Ray and Optical Light Curves of X-Ray Novae,” ApJ, 491, 312 (1997).
  12. Livio, M., et al., “Accreting White Dwarfs and Type Ia Supernovae,” in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, eds. A. Evans and J. H. Wood, (Dordrecht: Kluwer), p. 407 (1996).
  13. Della Valle, M. & Livio, M., “Are Microlensing Events Contaminated by Dwarf Nova Eruptions?” ApJ, 457, L77 (1996).
  14. Livio, M., “Cataclysmic Variables in Globular Clusters,” in The Origins, Evolution and Destinies of Binary Stars in Clusters, eds. E. F. Milone and J. C. Mermilliod (ASP), p. 312 (1996).
  15. Ferrarese, L., Livio, M., Freedman, W., Saha, A., Stetson, P., Ford, H., Hill, R., & Madore, B., “Discovery of a Nova in the Virgo Galaxy M100,” ApJ, 468, L95 (1996).
  16. Warner, B., Livio, M., & Tout, C., “Dwarf Nova Outbursts in Truncated Accretion Disks, Down with Low Alphas,” MNRAS, 282, 735, (1996).
  17. Armitage, P. J., Livio, M., & Pringle, J. E., “Dynamo Driven Accretion Discs and Dwarf Nova Eruptions,” ApJ, 457, 332 (1996).
  18. DellaValle, M. & Livio, M., “On the Frequency of Occurrence of Recurrent Novae and Their Role As Type Ia Supernova Progenitors,” ApJ, 473, 240 (1996).
  19. Yungelson, L. R., Livio, M., Tutukov, A. V., & Kenyon, S. J., “A Model for the Galactic Population of Symbiotic Stars with White Dwarf Accretors,” ApJ, 447, 656 (1995).
  20. Livio, M., “Nova Outbursts on Magnetic White Dwarfs,” in Cape Workshop on Magnetic CVs, ed. D. Buckley, p. 80 (1995).
  21. Prialnik, D. & Livio, M., “On the Erosion of the Helium Layer in White Dwarf Nova Progenitors,” PASP, 107, 1201 (1995).
  22. Livio, M., “On the Fate of Accreting White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Systems,” in Millisecond Pulsars: A Decade of Surprise, eds. A. Fruchter, M. Tavani and D. Backer, in ASP Conf. Series, p. 105 (1995).
  23. Della Valle, M. & Livio, M., “The Calibration of Novae As Distance Indicators,” ApJ, 452, 704 (1995).
  24. Paresce, F., Livio, M., Hack, W. & Korista, K., “The Structure and Evolution of the Nova V1974 Cygni Shell from HST Observations,” A&A, 299, 823 (1995).
  25. Chen, W., Shrader, C., & Livio, M., “A Systematic and Statistical Study of the X-ray and Optical Light Curves of X-Ray Novae,” in Evolution of X-Ray Binaries, ed. S. Holt, p. 67 (1994).
  26. Livio, M. & Truran, J. W., “On the Interpretation and Implications of Nova Abundances,” ApJ, 425, 797 (1994).
  27. DellaValle, M. & Livio, M., “On the Nova Rate in the Galaxy,” A&A, 286, 786 (1994).
  28. Livio, M. & Pringle, J. E., “Star Spots and the Period Gap in CataclysmicVariables,” ApJ, 427, 956 (1994).
  29. Della Valle, M., Bianchini, A., Rosino, L., & Livio, M., “The Nova Rate in Galaxies of Different Hubble Types,” A&A, 287, 403 (1994).
  30. Kenyon, S. J., Livio, M., Mikolajewska, J., & Tout, C. A., “On Symbiotic Stars and Type Ia Supernovae,” ApJ, 407, L81 (1993).
  31. Livio, M., “On the Possibility of Obtaining Type Ia Supernovae and Accretion Induced Collapses from Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects,” in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Physics, eds. O. Regev and G. Shaviv, Ann. Isr. Acad. Sci., p. 57 (1993).
  32. Honeycutt, R. K., Livio, M., & Robertson, J. W., “The Long-Term Lightcurve of the Cataclysmic Variable DW UMa,” PASP, 105, 922 (1993).
  33. Livio, M. & Pringle, J. E., “Dwarf Nova Outbursts: the UV Delay and the Effect of a Weakly Magnetized White Dwarf,” MNRAS, 259, 23 (1992).
  34. Livio, M., “Novae and the Extragalactic Distance Scale,” ApJ, 393, 516 (1992).
  35. Dellavalle, M., Bianchini, A., Livio, M., & Orio, M., “On the Possible Existence of Two Classes of Progenitors of Classical Novae,” A&A, 266, 232 (1992).
  36. Livio, M., Mastichiades, A., Ogelman, H., & Truran, J. W., “On the Role of Radioactive Decays in Powering Gamma Rays and X-Rays from Novae,” ApJ, 394, 217 (1992).
  37. Livio, M., Pringle, J. E., & Saffer, R., “Planets around Massive White Dwarfs,” MNRAS, 257, 15 (1992).
  38. Livio, M., “The Common Envelope Phase in Novae,” in Nonisotropic and Variable Outflows from Stars, eds. Drissen, et al., (Astronomical Society of the Pacific), p. 316 (1992).
  39. Livio, M., “The Cyclic Evolution-Hibernation Scenario of Cataclysmic Variables,” in The Vina Del Mar Workshop on CVs, ed. N.Vogt, ASP Conf. Ser. 29, p. 269 (1992).
  40. Livio, M., “The White Dwarf Mass Distribution in Nova Systems,” in The Vina del Mar Workshop on CVs, ed. N. Vogt, ASP Conf. Ser. 29, p. 4 (1992).
  41. Livio, M. & Truran, J. W., “Type I Supernovae and Accretion Induced Collapses from Cataclysmic Variables,” ApJ, 389, 695 (1992).
  42. Livio, M., Govarie, A., & Ritter, H., “Changes in Orbital Parameters of Novae,” A&A, 246, 84 (1991).
  43. Livio, M., “Common Envelope, Double White Dwarf Systems and Type I Supernovae,” in Frontier Objects in Astrophysics and Particle Physics, Vulcano Workshop 1990, ed. F. Giovannelli, p. 139 (1991).
  44. Livio, M. & Truran, J. W., “Elemental Mixing in Classical Nova Systems,” in Non-linear Phenomena in Astrophysics, ed. J. R. Bulcher, p. 342 (1991).
  45. Livio, M., “On the Expected Orbital Change in the Next Outburst of the Recurrent Nova T Pyxidis,” ApJ, 369, L5 (1991).
  46. Shankar, A., Truran, J. W., Burkert, A., & Livio, M., “The Common Envelope Phase in Classical Novae,” in The Physics of Classical Novae, IAU Colloquium 122, ed. A. Cassatella, (Berlin: Springer) p. 297 (1991).
  47. Shankar, A., Livio, M., & Truran, J. W., “The Common Envelope Phase in Classical Novae: One Dimensional Models,” ApJ, 374, 693 (1991).
  48. Politano, M. J., Livio, M., Truran, J. W., & Webbink, R. F., “The Theoretical Frequency of Classical Nova Outbursts,” in The Physics of Classical Novae, IAU Colloquium 122, ed. A. Cassatella, (Berlin: Springer), p. 386 (1991).
  49. Ritter, H., Politano, M., Livio, M., & Webbink, R. F., “The White Dwarf Mass Distribution in Classical Nova Systems,” ApJ, 376, 177 (1991).
  50. Livio, M. & Truran, J. W., “Multi-Dimensional Considerations with Regard to Classical Nova Explosions,” Comments on Astrophysics, 14, 221 (1990).
  51. Livio, M., “Novae between Outbursts,” IAU Colloquium 122, The Physics of Classical Novae, ed. A. Cassatella (1990).
  52. Mochkovitch, R. & Livio, M., “The Coalescence of White Dwarfs and Type I Supernovae: The Merged Configuration,” A&A, 236, 378 (1990).
  53. Shankar, A., Burkert, A., Livio, M., & Truran, J. W., “The Common Envelope Phase in Classical Novae,” North American Workshop on CVs (1990).
  54. Livio, M., Shankar, A., Burkert, A., & Truran, J. W., “The Common Envelope Phase in the Outbursts of Classical Novae,” ApJ, 356, 250 (1990).
  55. Duschl, W., Livio, M., & Truran, J. W., “The Recurrent Nova U Sco Revisited,” ApJ, 360, 232 (1990).
  56. Hayes, J., Truran, J. W., Livio, M., & Shankar, A., “The Super-Eddington Phase of Classical Novae,” North American Workshop on CVs (1990).
  57. Livio, M., Prialnik, D., & Regev, O., “Accretion onto Hot White Dwarfs,” ApJ, 341, 299 (1989).
  58. Livio, M., “Merging White Dwarfs, Disk Formation and Type I Supernovae,” in NATO Advance Research Workshop on Theory of Accretion Disks, eds. F. Meyer, et al., p. 135 (1989).
  59. Mochkovitch, R. & Livio, M., “The Coalescence of White Dwarfs and Type I Supernovae,” A&A, 209, 111 (1989).
  60. Mochkovitch, R. & Livio, M., “The Coalescence of White Dwarfs and Type I Supernovae,” in White Dwarfs, ed. G. Wegner, pp. 515–518 (1989).
  61. Hameury, J. M., King, A. R., Lasota, J. P., & Livio, M., “White Dwarf Masses and Nova Efficiency,” MNRAS, 237, 835 (1989).
  62. Livio, M., “Cataclysmic Variables,” l’Astronomia, 74, 5 11 (1988).
  63. Livio, M., “Classical Novae Before and After Outburst,” in IAU Colloquium 108, Atmospheric Diagnostics of Stellar Evolution, pp. 226–231 (1988).
  64. Livio, M., Shankar, A., & Truran, J. W., “Nova Outbursts in Magnetic White Dwarfs,” ApJ, 330, 264 (1988).
  65. Livio, M., Shankar, A., & Truran, J. W., “Nova Outbursts in the Case of Mild Hibernation,” ApJ, 325, 282 (1988).
  66. Livio, M., “Novae,” in Progress in Astronomy, 479 (1988).
  67. Truran, J. W., Livio, M., Hayes, J., Starrfield, S., & Sparks, W. M., “On the Composition Dependence Thermonuclear Runaway Models for the Recurrent Nova U Sco,” ApJ, 324, 345 (1988).
  68. Livio, M., “Recurrent Novae,” in IAU Colloquium 103, The Symbiotic Phenomenon, pp. 323–334 (1988).
  69. Truran, J. M. & Livio, M., “The Masses of White Dwarfs in Classical Nova Systems,” in White Dwarfs, ed. G. Wegner, (Berlin: Springer) pp. 498–506 (1988).
  70. Livio, M., “Are Classical Novae and Dwarf Novae the Same Systems?” Comments on Astrophysics, 12, 87 (1987).
  71. Livio, M. & Shara, M. M., “Binary System Parameters and the Hibernation Model of Cataclysmics,” ApJ, 319, 819 (1987).
  72. Soker, N., Regev, O., Livio, M., & Shara, M. M., “Massive Disk Formation Resulting from the Collision of a MS Star with a White Dwarf,” ApJ, 318, 760 (1987).
  73. Livio, M. & Truran, J. W., “Spin-Up and Mixing in Accreting White Dwarfs,” ApJ, 318, 316 (1987).
  74. Webbink, R. F., Livio, M., Truran, J. W., & Orio, M., “The Nature of Recurrent Novae,” ApJ, 314, 653 (1987).
  75. Webbink, R. F., Livio, M., Truran, J. W., & Orio, M., “The Nature of Recurrent Novae,” Astrophys. Space Sci., 131, 493 (1987).
  76. Livio, M., Truran, J. W., & Webbink, R. F., “A Model for the Outbursts of the Recurrent Nova RS Oph,” ApJ, 308, 736 (1986).
  77. Shara, M. M., Livio, M., Moffat, A. F. J., & Orio, M., “Do Novae Hibernate during most of the Millennia between Eruptions?” ApJ, 311, 163 (1986).
  78. Truran, J. W. & Livio, M., “On the Frequency of Occurrence of O-Ne-Mg White Dwarfs in Classical Nova Systems,” ApJ, 308, 721 (1986).
  79. Livio, M., “The Outbursts of Classical and Recurrent Novae,” in Variability of Galactic and Extragalactic X-Ray Sources, ed. A. Treves, pp. 201–212 (1986).
  80. Prialnik, D. & Livio, M., “Episodic Accretion Events onto a White Dwarf,” MNRAS, 213, 407 (1985).
  81. Livio, M. & Soker, N., “On the Masses of the White Dwarfs in CataclysmicVariables,” MNRAS, 208, 783 (1984).
  82. Livio, M. & Soker, N., “Star Planet Systems as Possible Progenitors of Cataclysmic Binaries,” MNRAS, 208, 763 (1984).
  83. Livio, M. & Warner, B., “Wind Accretion onto White Dwarfs,” Observatory, 104, 152 (1984).
  84. Livio, M. and Shaviv, G., eds. IAU Colloquium 72, Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, Dordrecht: Reidel (1983).
  85. Livio, M. & Soker, N., “Star Planet Systems as Progenitors and CataclysmicVariables Tidal Effects,” A&A, 125, L12 (1983).
  86. Livio, M., “The Influence of Magnetic Fields on Nova Outbursts,” A&A, 121, L7 (1983).
  87. Livio, M., “On the Origin of Low Mass Cataclysmic Binaries,” A&A, 112, 190 194 (1982).
  88. Prialnik, D., Livio, M., Shaviv, G., & Kovetz, A., “On the Role of the Accretion Rate in Nova Outbursts,” ApJ, 257, 312 (1982).
  89. Livio, M. “Star Planet Systems and Their Relation to Low Mass Cataclysmic Variables,” in Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects, eds. M. Livio and G. Shaviv (1982).
  90. Livio, M. & Shaviv, G., in Novae and Related Stars, ed. M. Friedjung, p. 51 (1977).

Questions

What is the difference between a nova and a supernova?

A nova is a surface event: hydrogen accumulated on a white dwarf ignites, the star brightens, and the star survives. A supernova destroys the star, or in the Type Ia case the white dwarf itself. The connection is that repeated novae may be how a white dwarf reaches the mass at which it can become a Type Ia — which is why this section and the supernova section share several papers.

Why do so many of these papers involve binaries?

A single white dwarf has no fuel supply. Everything a nova does depends on a companion close enough to lose mass to it, so the binary is not context to the phenomenon — it is the mechanism.

What is a recurrent nova?

One observed to erupt more than once, typically on a timescale of decades. The short interval implies a high accretion rate and a relatively massive white dwarf, which makes recurrent novae the best candidates for systems actually gaining mass over time.

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