Boundary-layer temperatures in high accretion rate cataclysmic variables

The Magnetospheric Boundary in Cataclysmic Variables

The magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs) present a wealth of observational diagnostics for studying accretion flows interacting with a magnetosphere. Spin-period pulsations from the rotation of the white dwarf are seen in optical light, in the UV and Xray bands, and in polarimetry, and modelling these can constrain the size and location of the accretion footprints on the white-dwarf surface. T...

The lower boundary of the accretion column in magnetic cataclysmic variables

Using a parameterised function for the mass loss at the base of the post-shock region, we have constructed a formulation for magnetically confined accretion flows which avoids singularities, such as the infinity in density, at the base associated with all previous formulations. With the further inclusion of a term allowing for the heat input into the base from the accreting white dwarf we are a...

SPH Simulations of Accretion Disks in Cataclysmic Variables

Tilted accretion discs in cataclysmic variables : Tidal instabilities and superhumps

We investigate the growth of tidal instabilities in accretion discs in a binary star potential, using three dimensional numerical simulations. As expected from analytic work, the disc is prone to an eccentric instability provided that it is large enough to extend to the 3:1 resonance. The eccentric disc leads to positive superhumps in the light curve. It has been proposed that negative superhum...

Sph Simulations of Tidally Unstable Accretion Disks in Cataclysmic Variables

We numerically study the precessing disk model for superhump in the SU UMa subclass of cataclysmic variables, using a two dimensional SPH code speciically designed for thin disk problems. Two disk simulations for a binary with mass ratio q = 3 17 (similar to OY Car) are performed, in order to investigate the Lubow (1991 a,b) tidal resonance instability mechanism. In the rst calculation, a disk ...