Related papers: The Magnetospheric Boundary in Cataclysmic Variabl…
We study the power spectra of the variability of seven intermediate polars containing magnetized asynchronous accreting white dwarfs, XSS J00564+4548,IGR J00234+6141, DO Dra, V1223 Sgr, IGR J15094-6649, IGR J16500-3307 and IGR J17195-4100,…
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…
Cataclysmic variable (CVs) are close interacting binaries in which a white dwarf accretes materials from a low mass main sequence companion. CVs can experience nova eruptions due to low mass transfer rates. In the standard theory of CV…
We present the first population synthesis of synchronous magnetic cataclysmic variables, called polars, taking into account the effect of the white dwarf (WD) magnetic field on angular momentum loss. We implemented the reduced magnetic…
We have investigated the mass accretion rate implied by published surface abundances of Si and C in the white dwarf component of the 3.62 hr period pre-cataclysmic binary and planet host candidate QS Vir (DA+M2-4). Diffusion timescales for…
Recently, large and homogeneous samples of cataclysmic variables (CVs) identified by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) were published. In these samples, the famous orbital period gap, which is a dearth of systems in the orbital period…
Compton scattering within the accretion column of magnetic cataclysmic variables (mCVs) can induce a net polarization in the X-ray emission. We investigate this process using Monte Carlo simulations and find that significant polarization…
XMM-Newton was used to observe two eclipsing, magnetic cataclysmic variables, DP Leo and WW Hor, continuously for three orbital cycles each. Both systems were in an intermediate state of accretion. For WW Hor we also obtained optical light…
We present the results of our study of ASASSN-14dx, a previously known but poorly characterised cataclysmic variable (CV). The source was observed as part of an ongoing high-time-resolution photometric survey of CVs, which revealed that, in…
Using Chandra HETG data we present light curves for individual spectral lines of Mg XI and Mg XII for EX Hydrae, an intermediate-polar type cataclysmic variable. The Mg XI light curve, folded on the white dwarf spin period, shows two spikes…
We present results of a study of the fast timing variability of the magnetic cataclysmic variable (mCV) EX Hya. It was previously shown that one may expect the rapid flux variability of mCVs to be smeared out at timescales shorter than the…
Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) are semi-detached binaries composed of a white dwarf orbiting a lower-mass K or M star. We investigate whether CVs are responsible for a new intriguing feature (the `hook') that appears in the Gaia DR3…
Observations of Cataclysmic Variables show a number of phenomena that do not fit easily into the standard magnetic braking scenario. These include the large spread in mass transfer rates, the low surface temperatures of many of the…
Although the theory of cataclysmic variable (CV) evolution is able to explain several observational aspects, strong discrepancies have existed for decades between observations and theoretical predictions of the orbital period distribution,…
We present new photometry and spectroscopy of the 94m eclipsing binary LSQ1725-64 that provide insight into the fundamental parameters and evolutionary state of this system. We confirm that LSQ1725-64 is a magnetic cataclysmic variable…
An extended magnetosphere of a strongly magnetized accreting white dwarf (known as a polar) prevents the formation of an accretion disk and the matter is channelled to the magnetic pole(s). A few such sources show quasi-periodic…
In cataclysmic variables (CVs), accretion onto white dwarfs produces high temperature, high density plasmas. They cool down from kT~10 keV via bremsstrahlung continuum and K and L shell line emissions. The small volume around white dwarfs…
In a series of recent papers, it has been proposed that high field magnetic white dwarfs are the result of close binary interaction and merging. Population synthesis calculations have shown that the origin of isolated highly magnetic white…
The orbital evolution of cataclysmic variables in which the companion is illuminated by a fraction of the accretion luminosity consists of irradiation-driven limit cycles on thermal timescales, superimposed on a secular evolution toward…
Cataclysmic Variables are a distinct class of interacting binaries, transferring mass from a donor star to a degenerate accretor, a white dwarf. We here review X-ray observations of these systems, with some emphasis on what has been…