scholarly journals Time Resolved Circular Polarimetry of White Dwarf Pulsars

1982 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 399-401
Author(s):  
W. Krzeminski ◽  
J.D. Landstreet ◽  
I. Thompson

There are two recognized subsets of cataclysmic binaries that contain white dwarfs: the AM Her stars, whose white dwarf components are sufficiently magnetized to ensure synchronous rotation with the orbital period, and the DQ Her stars, which do not maintain synchronism and probably have been spun up by mass accretion. Both groups of stars, recognized also as X-ray sources, are important as probes of the accretion process, and the radiation mechanisms in the vicinity of the white dwarf. So far, we know five objects belonging to the former group (AM Her, AN UMa, VV Pup, 2A 0311-227, and PG 1550+191), and seven falling into the latter: WZ Sge, AE Aqr, V533 Her, DQ Her, V1223 Sgr, H2252-035, and EX Hya, with the corresponding rotation periods of their white dwarf primaries of 28, 33, 64, 71, 794, 805, and 4020 s, respectively. While the main observational and theoretical efforts have been focussed on the AM Her class, the DQ Her binaries have been investigated to much lesser extent. This is probably because the DQ Her stars have been recognized only very recently as a homogeneous class.

1990 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 313-324
Author(s):  
Hans Ritter

AbstractIn this paper we explore to what extent the TNR model of nova outbursts and our current concepts of the formation and secular evolution of cataclysmic binaries are compatible. Specifically we address the following questions: 1) whether observational selection can explain the high white dwarf masses attributed to novae, 2) whether novae on white dwarfs in the mass range 0.6M⊙ ≲ M ≲ 0.9M⊙ can occur and how much they could contribute to the observed nova frequency, and 3) whether the high mass transfer rates imposed on the white dwarf in systems above the period gap can be accommodated by the TNR model of nova outbursts.


1996 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 403-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Beuermann

AM Herculis binaries contain mass accreting magnetic white dwarfs which appear as bright X-ray sources in the ROSAT All Sky Survey. About 52 systems are presently known which allow detailed studies of the evolution of magnetic close binaries and of fundamental plasma-physical processes in the accretion region on the white dwarf.


1987 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
E.M. Sion

AbstractWith the recent detection of direct white dwarf photospheric radiation from certain cataclysmic variables in quiescent (low accretion) states, important implications and clues about the nature and long-term evolution of cataclysmic variables can emerge from an analysis of their physical properties. Detection of the underlying white dwarfs has led to a preliminary empirical CV white dwarf temperature distribution function and, in a few cases, the first detailed look at a freshly accreted while dwarf photosphere. The effective temperatures of CV white dwarfs plotted versus orbital period for each type of CV appears to reveal a tendency for the cooler white dwarf primaries to reside in the shorter period systems. Possible implications are briefly discussed.


1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 417-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Warner

For isolated stars, identification as a white dwarf may be effected in several ways. The fundamental property of abnormally low luminosity can be detected through direct measurement of trigonometric parallax or indirectly through large proper motion (accompanied by appropriate photometric properties). The presence of greatly pressure broadened absorption lines is another unambiguous criterion. Rapid light oscillations of the kind reviewed by Robinson are another hallmark of a select group of white dwarfs. Any or all of these criteria may be used to classify a star as a white dwarf and in general can be applied to members of wide binary systems.


1982 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 115-116
Author(s):  
David A. Allen

AbstractObservations are reported of 19 symbiotic stars made with the imaging proportional counter of the Einstein Observatory. Three of the objects (HM Sge, V 1016 Cyg and RR Tel) were detected as soft X-ray sources. All three have shown slow-nova eruptions in the past 40 years. The data are interpreted as support of a model for slow novae involving thermonuclear events on white dwarfs which accrete from M giant companions. Symbiotic stars in their steady state, not being detected X-ray sources, are presumed to be powered by the accretion process alone.


1997 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 689-689
Author(s):  
K. Beuermann ◽  
A. Fischer ◽  
Th. Rousseau

AbstractObserved cyclotron spectra of AM Herculis binaries imply a large range of mass flow rates in the accretion spot on the white dwarf. We derive this ṁ–distribution for the case of UZ For. For AM Her stars with different field strength B, such a distribution is shifted in ṁ proportional to B. This fact can account for the observed dominance of bremsstrahlung at low B and of quasi-blackbody emission at high B values.


1996 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 213-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Ramsay ◽  
Paul A. Mason

We present preliminary results of an analysis of X-ray and optical data of the asynchronous AM Her star BY Cam [1]. We use X-ray data from EXOSAT (0.1… 50 keV), Ginga (1.5… 50 keV) and ROSAT (0.1…2.0 keV) and optical data obtained during a 45-day campaign in 1994.There are 4 known periods: the orbital period (201.30 m), the spin period of the white dwarf (199.3303 m), a spin-orbit beat period (14.15 d) and a side-band period (197.4 m). The detection of this side-band period lends credence to the theory of [2], who suggest that for a stream accreting, diskless, magnetic CV a frequency, f = 2ωspin − Ωorb (=197.399 m), will appear as a strong spike in the power spectrum for certain systems. Wu & Mason (this volume) discuss a competing model where Pspin = 197.4 m.


1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 497-497
Author(s):  
N. Vogt

Preliminary results of spectroscopic and photometric data for five dwarf novae are presented : 1) V 436 Cen. The orbital period of 0.0669 days was determined from radial velocity variations. The RV half amplitude of the primary, K1. = 159 km/s, implies very small masses of M1 ≲ 0.20 M⊙ and M2 = 0.18 M⊙ for the binary components.2) Z Cha. Broad emission (Hβ, Hγ, Hδ) and superimposed narrow absorption lines of Hβ-HII, HeI 4471, Cal 4427 and Call K characterize the spectrum during quiescence. Apparently, the cool, optically thin outer disc is seen on the background of a hot continuum, originating from the white dwarf or the inner disc. The RV half amplitude K1 = 87 km/s results in masses of M1 = 1.10 M⊙ and M⊙ = 0.21 M⊙.3) EX Hya. The RV half amplitude K1 = 68 km/s reveals masses of M1 = 1.4 M⊙ and M2 = 0.19 M⊙ The equivalent widths of the emission lines of H, HeI 4471 and HeII 4686 vary with the phase of the recently detected 67 minute cycle (maximal EW coincides nearly with maximal continuum intensity).4) 0Y Car is an eclipsing binary with an orbital period of 0.0631 days. The eclipses show strong variations in shape and amplitude in the course of an outburst, similar as those of Z Cha. The observations seem to confirm that the location of the eruption is the central part of the disc which increases in size and luminosity.5) EK TrA shows periodic superhumps (P = 0.0645 days) during supermaximum, and therefore belongs to the SU UMa sub-group of dwarf novae which are also characterized by a quasi-periodic occurence of super-maxima. The SU UMa sub-group comprises 70% of the ultra-short period cataclysmic binaries, and at least 18% of all dwarf novae.


2022 ◽  
Vol 924 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Jules P. Halpern ◽  
John R. Thorstensen

Abstract We conducted time-resolved optical spectroscopy and/or photometry of 10 cataclysmic binaries that were discovered in hard X-ray surveys, with the goal of measuring their orbital periods and searching for evidence that they are magnetic. Four of the objects in this study are new optical identifications: IGR J18017−3542, PBC J1841.1+0138, IGR J18434−0508, and Swift J1909.3+0124. A 311.8 s, coherent optical pulsation is detected from PBC J1841.1+0138, as well as eclipses with a period of 0.221909 days. A 152.49 s coherent period is detected from IGR J18434−0508. A probable period of 389 s is seen in IGR J18151−1052, in agreement with a known X-ray spin period. We also detect a period of 803.5 s in an archival X-ray observation of Swift J0717.8−2156. The last four objects are thus confirmed magnetic cataclysmic variables of the intermediate polar class. An optical period of 1554 s in AX J1832.3−0840 also confirms the known X-ray spin period, but a stronger signal at 2303 s is present whose interpretation is not obvious. We also studied the candidate intermediate polar Swift J0820.6−2805, which has low and high states differing by ≈4 mag and optical periods or quasi-periodic oscillations not in agreement with proposed X-ray periods. Of note is an unusually long 2.06-day orbital period for Swift J1909.3+0124, manifest in the radial velocity variation of photospheric absorption lines of an early K-type companion star. The star must be somewhat evolved if it is to fill its Roche lobe.


2004 ◽  
Vol 215 ◽  
pp. 163-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinhué Haro ◽  
Juan Antonio Juárez ◽  
Gloria Koenigsberger

A correlation between orbital period and log(LX/Lbol) is found for a sample of B-type binary systems. We suggest that wind-wind collisions are the likely mechanism for generating the X-ray emission, and that the mass-loss rates may be enhanced in non-synchronously rotating systems due to the oscillations that are excited by the tidal forces.


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