Novae heat their food: mass transfer by irradiation

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 507; no. 1; pp. 475 - 483
• Main Authors: Ginzburg, Sivan, Quataert, Eliot
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 01.10.2021
• Subjects: binaries: close; stars: individual: T Pyxidis; stars: individual: IM Normae; novae, cataclysmic variables

ABSTRACT A nova eruption irradiates and heats the donor star in a cataclysmic variable to high temperatures Tirr, causing its outer layers to expand and overflow the Roche lobe. We calculate the donor’s heating and expansion both analytically and numerically, under the assumption of spherical symmet...