A survey of superhumps in old novae and novalike variables based on TESS light curves

The month long (and often even longer) almost uninterruped light curves provided by the TESS mission permit the detection, free from aliasing problems, of periodic brightness variations in a huge quantity of stars, among them numerous cataclysmic variables (CVs). Superhumps - ubiquituous in SU UMa-type dwarf novae - are also seen in an increasing number in longer orbital period CVs with accretion disks in a permanent high state, i.e., old novae and novalike variables. TESS light curves of these systems revealed many more of them to exhibit superhumps, either positive or negative, than was hitherto known. They also permit a detailed characterization of their appearance and disappearance over time, the interplay between positive and negative superhumps, and their sometimes surprisingly complex and variable waveforms.