Short-period novae offer a unique opportunity to study the prolonged observed phase of unusually high accretion rate and luminosity following decades after a nova eruption. These systems have reported photometric orbital periods around 2 hrs, theoretically making their accretion rate and evolution being driven by gravitational radiation alone. Therefore, soon after the nova eruption, systems with such short orbital periods should decline to their usual much fainter states. Why are these systems staying bright long after the nova eruption? One possibility is that the white dwarf cools very slowly, producing a ”heating effect” on the donor star. Another possibility is that the cool donor star is slightly bloated by the high luminosity of the nova, greatly boost the mass-transfer rate.

This talk highlights the discrepancy between observations and expected behavior of short-period CVs in the aftermath of a nova eruption.