Novae are cataclysmic variable binary systems in which a white dwarf ( WD ) primary is accreting material from a low mass companion .
The importance of this accretion takes on added significance if the WD can increase its mass to reach the Chandrasekhar limit thus exploding as a Type Ia supernova .
In this study we accrete material of Solar composition onto carbon/oxygen ( CO ) WD’s of 0.70 , 1.00 and 1.35 M _ { \hbox { $ \odot$ } } with accretion rates from 1.6 \times 10 ^ { -10 } to 1.6 \times 10 ^ { -6 } M _ { \hbox { $ \odot$ } } yr ^ { -1 } .
We have utilized the MESA stellar evolution code for our modeling and evolve them for many nova cycles or , in some cases , evolution to a red giant stage .
Differing behaviors occur as a function of both the WD mass and the accretion rate .
For the lower WD masses , the models undergo recurrent hydrogen flashes at low accretion rates ; for higher accretion rates , steady-burning of hydrogen occurs and eventually gives way to recurrent hydrogen flashes .
At the highest accretion rates , these models go through a steady-burning phase but eventually transition into red giants .
For the highest WD mass recurrent hydrogen flashes occur at lower accretion rates but for higher rates the models exhibit steady-burning interspersed with helium flashes .
We find that for all our models that undergo recurrent hydrogen flashes , as well as the steady-burning models that exhibit helium flashes , the mass of the WD continues to grow toward the Chandrasekhar limit .
These results suggest that the accretion of Solar abundance material onto CO WD ’ s in cataclysmic variable systems , the single degenerate scenario , is a viable channel for progenitors of Type Ia supernova explosions .