Radio studies of novae: a current status report and highlights of new
  results
  Novae, which are the sudden visual brightening triggered by runaway
thermonuclear burning on the surface of an accreting white dwarf, are fairly
common and bright events. Despite their astronomical significance as nearby
laboratories for the study of nuclear burning and accretion phenomena, many
aspects of these common stellar explosions are observationally not
well-constrained and remain poorly understood. Radio observations, modeling and
interpretation can potentially play a crucial role in addressing some of these
puzzling issues. In this review on radio studies of novae, we focus on the
possibility of testing and improving the nova models with radio observations,
and present a current status report on the progress in both the observational
front and theoretical developments. We specifically address the issues of
accurate estimation of ejecta mass, multi-phase and complex ejection phenomena,
and the effect of a dense environment around novae. With highlights of new
observational results, we illustrate how radio observations can shed light on
some of these long-standing puzzles.
