Getting to know the cataclysmic variable beneath the nova eruption

TL;DR

This paper discusses a project aimed at identifying and confirming post-nova systems to better understand the properties and behaviors of cataclysmic variables before and after nova eruptions.

Contribution

It reports on efforts to increase the number of confirmed post-novae, enabling comparative studies with the general CV population.

Findings

Improved identification of post-nova systems.

Enhanced understanding of CV properties related to nova eruptions.

Progress towards clarifying the role of system characteristics in nova events.

Abstract

The eruption of a (classical) nova is widely accepted to be a recurrent event in the lifetime of a cataclysmic binary star. In-between eruptions the system should therefore behave as a "normal" cataclysmic variable (CV), i.e. according to its characteristic properties like the mass-transfer rate or the strength of the magnetic field of the white dwarf. How important are these characteristics for the nova eruption itself, i.e. which type of systems preferably undergo a nova eruption? This question could in principle be addressed by comparing the post-nova systems with the general CV population. However, information on post-novae is scarce, even to the extent that the identification of the post-nova is ambiguous in most cases. In this paper we inform on the progress of a project that has been undertaken to significantly improve the number of confirmed post-novae, thus ultimately providing the means for a better understanding of these objects.