Quiet Novae with Flat Maximum -- No Optically Thick Winds

TL;DR

This paper explains why some novae, like PU Vul, exhibit long-lasting flat optical maxima by showing that low-mass white dwarfs suppress optically thick winds, leading to slow evolution and extended brightness peaks.

Contribution

It clarifies the conditions under which optically thick winds are suppressed in novae, providing a new understanding of flat maximum phenomena in low-mass white dwarf systems.

Findings

Low-mass white dwarfs (<0.7 M☉) suppress optically thick winds during nova outbursts.

Suppressed winds lead to slow evolution and long-lasting flat optical maxima.

PU Vul's long optical maximum is explained by hydrostatic evolution without wind mass-loss.

Abstract

I will explain why most novae show a sharp optical peak in the light curve, whereas a small number of novae, such as PU Vul, shows a long-lasted flat optical maximum. Re-examination of occurrence condition of optically thick winds clarifies that hydrostatic evolutions, in which optically thick winds are suppressed, are realized during nova outbursts on low mass white dwarfs (WDs) (less than about 0.7 Mo). In such a case, a nova outburst evolves very slowly, because of no strong mass-ejection, and stays at low temperature stage a long time, which results in a long-lasted flat optical peak. This explains outburst nature of symbiotic nova PU Vul, that shows flat optical maximum lasted as long as eight years with no spectral indication of wind mass-loss. On the other hand, in ordinary nova outbursts, strong optically thick winds inevitably occur that carry out most of the envelope matter very quickly. Thus the light curve decays immediately after the optical peak, which results in a sharp peak of optical light curve.