Related papers: A magnetic accretion switch in pre-cataclysmic bin…
We report on a ~37-ks XMM-Newton observation of the intermediate polar FO Aquarii, presenting X-ray and UV data from the EPIC and OM cameras. We find that the system has changed from its previously reported state of disc-overflow accretion…
We report the discovery of 1RXH J082623.6-505741, a 10.4 hr orbital period compact binary. Modeling extensive optical photometry and spectroscopy reveals a $\sim 0.4 M_{\odot}$ K-type secondary transferring mass through a low-state…
Pulsar timing arrays have recently found evidence for nanohertz gravitational waves that are consistent with being produced by a cosmological population of binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, the amplitude of this…
I demonstrate that an effect similar to the Roemer delay, familiar from timing radio pulsars, should be detectable in the first eclipsing double white dwarf (WD) binary, NLTT 11748. By measuring the difference of the time between the…
Volatiles, notably water, are key to the habitability of rocky planets. The presence of water in planetary material can be inferred from the atmospheric oxygen abundances of polluted white dwarfs, but this interpretation is often complex.…
I give an overview of the rich phenomenology of dwarf nova oscillations (DNOs) and Quasi-periodic Oscillations (QPOs) observed in cataclysmic variable stars (CVs). The favoured interpretation of these rapid brightness modulations (3 - >1000…
The properties of the orbit and the donor star in the high mass X-ray binary microquasar LS 5039 indicate that accretion processes should mainly occur via a radiatively driven wind. In such a scenario, significant X-ray variability would be…
Compared to mass transfer in cataclysmic variables, the nature of accretion in symbiotic binaries in which red giants transfer material to white dwarfs (WDs) has been difficult to uncover. The accretion flows in a symbiotic binary are most…
Angular momentum loss through magnetic braking drives the spin-down of low-mass stars and the orbital evolution of various close binary systems. Current theories for magnetic braking, often calibrated for specific types of systems, predict…
How a black hole accretes matter and how this process is regulated are fundamental but unsolved questions in astrophysics. In transient black-hole binaries, a lot of mass stored in an accretion disk is suddenly drained to the central black…
The nature of the accreting companion to Mira --- the prototypical pulsating asymptotic giant branch star --- has been a matter of debate for more than 25 years. Here we use a quantitative analysis of the rapid optical brightness variations…
Accretion among planets is a poorly understood phenomenon, due to lack of both observational and theoretical studies. Detection of emission lines from accreting gas giants facilitate detailed investigations into this process. This work…
Based on optical and infrared survey data spanning $\approx 20$ years of observations, the long-term variability of the polar V379 Vir with a brown dwarf secondary has been studied. By modeling the spectral energy distribution, we constrain…
We study accretion induced collapse of magnetized white dwarfs as an origin of millisecond pulsars. We apply magnetized accretion disk models to the pre-collapse accreting magnetic white dwarfs and calculate the white dwarf spin evolution.…
Rotation-powered millisecond radio pulsars have been spun up to their present spin period by a $10^8$ - $10^9$ yr long X-ray-bright phase of accretion of matter and angular momentum in a low-to-intermediate mass binary system. Recently, the…
Stellar companion of a black hole orbiting in an eccentric orbit will experience modulating tidal force with a periodicity same as that of the orbital period. This, in turn, would modulate accretion rates, and the seed photon flux which are…
We report the discovery of two new magnetic cataclysmic variables with brown dwarf companions and long orbital periods ($P_{\rm orb}=95\pm1$ and $104\pm2$ min). This discovery increases the sample of candidate magnetic period bouncers with…
The application of standard accretion theory to observations of X-ray binaries provides valuable insights into neutron star properties, such as their spin period and magnetic field. However, most studies concentrate on relatively old…
AM Her variables -- synchronised magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) -- exhibit a different period distribution from other CVs across the period gap. We show that non-AM Her systems may infiltrate the longer-period end of the period gap if…
An accretion disk can be formed around a secondary star in a binary system when the primary companion leaves the Main sequence and starts to lose mass at an enhanced rate. We study the accretion disk evolution and planetary migration in…