  We report on numerical calculations of nonadiabatic eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions for g-modes in ZZ Ceti variables. The spectrum of overstable
$l=1$ modes delineates the instability strip. Its blue edge occurs where
$\omega \tau_c \approx 1$ for the $n=1$ mode. Here $\omega$ is radian frequency
and $\tau_c$ is about four times the thermal timescale at the bottom of the
surface convection zone. As a ZZ Ceti cools, its convection zone deepens,
longer period modes become overstable, but the critical value of $\omega\tau_c$
separating overstable and damped modes rises. The latter is a consequence of
enhanced radiative damping for modes which propagate immediately below the
convection zone. The critical value of $\omega\tau_c$ is of observational
significance because modes with the smallest value of $\omega\tau_c$ are most
observable photometrically. Maximum periods for overstable modes predicted for
our cooler model envelopes are about a factor two longer than the observational
upper limit of $1,200\s$. We assess a number of plausible resolutions for this
discrepancy among which convective overshoot and nonlinear saturation look
promising. The nonadiabatic eigenfunctions enable us to predict relative
amplitudes and phases of photospheric variations of flux and velocity,
quantities made accessible by recent observations. We also present asymptotic
formula for damping rates of high order modes, a result of consequence for
future investigations of nonlinear saturation of the amplidues of overstable
modes.
