Population synthesis of Novae

Novae are nuclear explosions that occur on white dwarf stars when they accrete material from a companion star. These explosions are bright enough to be seen across extra-galactic distances and enrich the local gas with a unique mixture of elements. For example, we now understand that almost all the lithium in the solar system was probably formed in nova explosions, a conclusion supported by the work conducted in my thesis. In my thesis, I study populations of novae in real stellar environments using a purely theoretical approach, making predictions for nova rates, distributions, and nucleosynthesis contributions.