Related papers: Blunting the Spike: the CV Minimum Period
We give an updated version of the analytical equation of state used in the Cambridge stellar evolution code (STARS) as a free to use open-source package that we have used to model cool white dwarfs down to temperatures…
Cataclysmic variables (CVs) that have evolved past the period minimum during their lifetimes are predicted to be systems with a brown dwarf donor. While population synthesis models predict that around $\approx 40-70\%$ of the Galactic CVs…
More than 20 pre-cataclysmic variable (pre-CV) systems have now been discovered with very short orbital periods ranging from 250 min down to 68 min. A pre-CV consists of a white dwarf or hot subdwarf primary and a low-mass companion star,…
We review our knowledge of the origin and phenomenology of low states (also known as VY Scl states) in cataclysmic variables, making special emphasis on the cataclysmic variable population found just above the period gap. This orbital…
The evolution of Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) is driven by period-changes ($\dot{P}$), for which the long-venerable consensus is the Magnetic Braking Model (MBM). The MBM has its only distinctive assumption being a power-law `recipe'…
Kinematical properties of CVs were investigated according to population types and orbital periods, using the space velocities computed from recently updated systemic velocities, proper motions and parallaxes. Reliability of collected space…
The X-ray source RX J2015.6+3711 was discovered by ROSAT in 1996 and recently proposed to be a cataclysmic variable (CV). Here we report on an XMM-Newton observation of RX J2015.6+3711 performed in 2014, where we detected a coherent X-ray…
We apply the new generation of theoretical models of low-mass stars to secondaries in CVs, focussing on systems above the period gap. The models confirm that the spectral type should be a good indicator of the donor mass. The orbital…
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…
The mass-loss rate of donor stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) is of paramount importance in the evolution of short-period CVs. Observed donors are oversized in comparison with those of isolated single stars of the same mass, which is…
While highly evolved cataclysmic variables (CVs) with brown dwarf donors, often called "period bouncers", are predicted to make up $\simeq40-70$ % of the Galactic CV population, only a handful of such systems are currently known. The…
The color-magnitude diagram of the lower main sequence, as measured from a volume-limited sample of nearby stars, shows an abrupt downward jump between Mv = 12 and 13. This jump indicates that the observed mass-radius relationship steepens…
We present the photometric results of the eclipsing cataclysmic variable (CV) WZ Sge near the period minimum ($P_{min}$). Eight new mid-eclipse times were determined and the orbital ephemeris was updated. Our result shows that the orbital…
We critically re-examine the available data on the spectral types, masses and radii of the secondary stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) and low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), using the new catalogue of Ritter & Kolb (1998) as a starting…
Magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) contain a white dwarf with magnetic field strong enough to control the accretion flow from a late type secondary. In this paper, we discover a magnetic CV (CXOGSG J215544.4+380116) from the $Chandra$…
The influence of a circumbinary (CB) disk on the evolution of cataclysmic variable (CV) binary systems is investigated. We show that CB mass surface densities sufficient to influence the evolution rate are plausibly provided by the outflows…
Assuming that white dwarf (WD) magnetic fields are generated by a crystallization- and rotation-driven dynamo, the impact of the late appearance of WD magnetic fields in cataclysmic variables (CVs) has been shown to potentially solve…
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…
We constrain the orbital period ($P_{\rm orb}$) distribution of low-mass detached main-sequence eclipsing binaries (EBs) with light curves from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which provides a well-understood selection function and…
I discuss the case for an efficient orbital braking mechanism in CVs, and the effect of nova outbursts on the observed range of mass transfer rates. I review the continuing problem that models have in interpreting the short-period cut-off…