Cataclysmic Variable Stars around the minimum orbital period
Sergey Zharikov (UNAM, Mexico)
In my talk I will present our results about study cataclysmic variable stars
with periods around the minimum orbital period with special attention to
so-called bounce back systems - the system which have evolved beyond the
period minimum.
We explored conditions and structure of accretion disks in those
short-period Cataclysmic Variables. We showed that the accretion disk in a
system with extremely low mass ratio (<=0.05) grows in the size reaching 2:1
resonance radius and is relatively cool. The disk in such systems also
becomes largely optically thin in the continuum, contributing to the total
flux less than the stellar components of the system. In contrast, the
viscosity and the temperature in spiral arms formed at the outer edge of the
disk are higher and their contribution in continuum plays an increasingly
important role. We model such disks and generate light curves which
successfully simulate the observed double-humped light curves in the
quiescence.
Back to the seminar webpage.