MULTIPLICITY OF NOVA ENVELOPE SOLUTIONS AND OCCURRENCE OF OPTICALLY THICK WINDS

Abstract

We revisit the occurrence condition of optically thick winds reported by Kato in 1985 and Kato and Hachisu in 1989 who mathematically examined nova envelope solutions with an old opacity and found that optically thick winds are accelerated only in massive white dwarfs (WDs) of 0.9 M ☉. With the OPAL opacity we find that the optically thick wind occurs for 0.6 M ☉ WDs and that the occurrence of winds depends not only on the WD mass but also on the ignition mass. When the ignition mass is larger than a critical value, winds are suppressed by a density-inversion layer. Such a static solution can be realized in WDs of mass ~0.6-0.7 M ☉. We propose that sequences consisting only of static solutions correspond to slow evolutions in symbiotic novae like PU Vul because PU Vul shows no indication of strong winds in a long-lasted flat peak followed by a very slow decline in its light curve.