Nova Framework

The objective of this project is to create a publicly-available framework that can be used by an individual researcher or a student to study nova explosions and nucleosynthesis. The nova framework uses the powers of the state-of-the-art stellar evolution code MESA and post-processing nucleosynthesis code NuGrid. It will eventually include a large set of initial CO and ONeMg WD models, interactive shell scripts and tuned-up parameter lists, making it easy for a non-expert to run the MESA and NuGrid codes and use their Python visualization tools. All the data and tutorials will be placed in one of the MESA star test suite directories.

The project is supported by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (the NSF grant PHY08-22648), TRIUMF (Canada's National Laboratory for Particle and Nuclear Physics), and the University of Victoria.

To demonstrate our progress and the potential of the nova framework, this paper reports first results of our computations of multi-cycle nova explosions occurring on the surfaces of CO WDs with the masses 0.65, 1.0, and 1.2 M_sun that accrete the solar-composition and CO-enriched material with the rates dM/dt = 1e-10, 1e-11, and 1e-9 M_sun/yr. The 1.2 M_sun model is used as an example to illustrate how we do post-processing calculations of nova nucleosynthesis and visualize their results.

Members of our TRIUMF and UVic groups can try to install and run the nova framework on the TRIUMF's astro01 computer. This document gives instructions on how to do this.

A February 2012 report on the status of the nova project can be read here.