Feeding, Erupting, and Bursting: The restless lives of accreting white dwarfs

Accreting white dwarfs represent late stages of interacting binary evolution, making them valuable calibrators for binary evolution models. They are also natural laboratories for studying mass transfer, angular-momentum loss, accretion physics, and the evolutionary pathways that may ultimately lead to thermonuclear explosions.
Systems in which a white dwarf accretes material from a hydrogen-rich companion are known as cataclysmic variables. In this talk, I will discuss their evolution, focusing on magnetic braking and the uncertainties that affect our understanding of the orbital-period distribution and mass-transfer rates. I will also consider possible evolutionary pathways toward AM CVn systems, ultracompact binaries in which a white dwarf accretes material from a helium-rich companion.
Finally, I will explore the remarkable diversity of accreting white dwarfs: dwarf novae undergoing disc outbursts, novae experiencing thermonuclear eruptions that eject material and produce shells around the binary, and nova-like systems that remain in a persistently bright, high-accretion state, often resembling dwarf novae caught in a permanent outburst

Talk in presence and via Zoom:

https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/66006535328?pwd=aGkrSjJIYmZjK0VpYlpGL0ZrdHg2UT09

This talk is not part of the seminar on astrophysics. Everybody is welcome though.