  We present calculations indicating the possibility of a new class of Type I
supernovae. In this new paradigm relativistic terms enhance the self gravity of
a carbon-oxygen white dwarf as it passes or orbits near a black hole. This
relativistic compression can cause the central density to exceed the threshold
for pycnonuclear reactions so that athermonuclear runaway ensues. We consider
three possible environments: 1) white dwarfs orbiting a low-mass black hole; 2)
white dwarfs encountering a massive black hole in a dense globular cluster; and
3) white dwarfs passing a supermassive black hole in a dense galactic core. We
estimate the rate at which such events could occur out to a redshift of z = 1.
Event rates are estimated to be significantly less than the rate of normal Type
Ia supernovae for all three classes. Nevertheless, such events may be frequent
enough to warrant a search for this new class of supernova. We propose several
observable signatures which might be used to identify this type of event and
speculate that such an event might have produced the observed
"mixed-morphology" Sgr A East supernova remnant in the Galactic core.
