Related papers: Does an Average White Dwarf Have Enough Mass to Pr…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
Many different system types retrogradely precess, and retrograde precession could be from a tidal torque by the secondary on a misaligned accretion disk. However, a source to cause and maintain disk tilt is unknown. In this work, we show…
The hard X-ray spectrum of magnetic cataclysmic variables can be modelled to provide a measurement of white dwarf mass. This method is complementary to radial velocity measurements, which depend on the (typically rather uncertain) binary…
Recent infrared observations have revealed presence of compact (radii < R_Sun) debris disks around more than a dozen of metal-rich white dwarfs (WD), likely produced by tidal disruption of asteroids. Accretion of high-Z material from these…
It was recently proposed that metal-rich white dwarfs (WDs) accrete their metals from compact debris disks found to exist around more than a dozen of them. At the same time, elemental abundances measured in atmospheres of some WDs imply…
A growing sample of white dwarfs (WDs) with metal-enriched atmospheres are accompanied by excess infrared emission, indicating that they are encircled by a compact dusty disk of solid debris. Such `WD debris disks' are thought to originate…
Recent discoveries of compact (sizes $<R_\odot$) debris disks around more than a dozen of metal-rich white dwarfs (WDs) suggest that pollution of these stars with metals may be caused by accretion of high-Z material from the disk. But the…
We have extracted spectra of 20 magnetic Cataclysmic Variables (mCVs) from the RXTE archive and fitted them using the X-ray continuum method of Cropper et al to determine the mass of the accreting white dwarf in each system. We find…
Accreting white dwarfs (AWDs) are among the best natural laboratories for understanding disk accretion. Their proximity, brightness, and purely classical nature make them ideal systems in which to probe the fundamental physics that governs…
A growing number of debris discs have been detected around metal-polluted white dwarfs. They are thought to be originated from tidally disrupted exoplanetary bodies and responsible for metal accretion onto host WDs. To explain (1) the…
Using smoothed particle hydrodynamics, we numerically simulate steady state accretion discs for Cataclysmic Variable Dwarf Novae systems that have a secondary-to-primary mass ratio (0.35 \le q \le 0.55). After these accretion discs have…
When a white dwarf (WD) is weakly magnetized and its accretion disk is thin, accreted material first reaches the WD's surface at its equator. This matter slows its orbit as it comes into co-rotation with the WD, dissipating kinetic energy…
Collimated outflows from accreting white dwarfs have an important role to play in the study of astrophysical jets. Observationally, collimated outflows are associated with systems in which material is accreted though a disk. Theoretically,…
Mass transfer from an evolved donor star to its binary companion is a standard feature of stellar evolution in binaries. In wide binaries, the companion star captures some of the mass ejected in a wind by the primary star. The captured…
Infrared excesses around metal polluted white dwarfs have been associated with the accretion of dusty, planetary material. This work analyses the available infrared data for an unbiased sample of white dwarfs and demonstrates that no more…
We report the discovery of excess K-band radiation from a metal-rich DAV white dwarf star, WD1150-153. Our near infrared spectroscopic observations show that the excess radiation cannot be explained by a (sub)stellar companion, and is…
Warps are suspected in disks around massive compact objects. However, the proposed warping source -- non-axisymmetric radiation pressure -- does not apply to white dwarfs. In this letter we report the first Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic…
We report on the masses ($M_\mathrm{WD}$), effective temperatures ($T_\mathrm{eff}$) and secular mean accretion rates ($\langle \dot{M} \rangle$) of 43 cataclysmic variable (CV) white dwarfs, 42 of which were obtained from the combined…
Many isolated white dwarfs (WDs) show spectral evidence of atmospheric metal pollution. Since heavy element sedimentation timescales are short, this most likely indicates ongoing accretion. Accreted metals encounter a variety of mixing…