MASS ACCRETION ONTO MASSIVE WHITE-DWARFS

We have studied the thermonuclear runaways which develop on white dwarfs of 1.205 M⊙ and 1.358 M⊙ accreting hydrogen rich material at 10-10M⊙ yr-1. It is found that ignition of this material occurs at densities in excess of about 104 gm cm-3 and that the critical accumulated mass required to initiate the runaway is 0.7(1.5)×10-4M⊙ for a 1.358(1.205)M⊙ white dwarf. © 1979 D. Reidel Publishing Co.