Related papers: Blunting the Spike: the CV Minimum Period

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…

Two magnetic braking models are implemented in MESA for use in the MIST stellar model grids. Stars less than about 1.3 $M_{\odot}$ are observed to spin down over time through interaction with their magnetized stellar winds (i.e., magnetic…

We predict quantitative mass-loss rates and terminal wind velocities for early-type supergiants and luminous blue variables (LBVs) using a dynamical version of the Monte Carlo radiative transfer method. First, the observed drop in terminal…

The population of non magnetic cataclysmic variables evolving under the influence of a circumbinary disk is investigated for systems above the upper edge of the period gap at orbital periods greater than 2.75hr. For a fractional mass input…

Recent Cerenkov observations of the two BL Lac objects PKS 2155-304 and Mkn 501 revealed TeV flux variability by a factor ~2 in just 3-5 minutes. Even accounting for the effects of relativistic beaming, such short timescales are challenging…

The eruption of a (classical) nova is widely accepted to be a recurrent event in the lifetime of a cataclysmic binary star. In-between eruptions the system should therefore behave as a "normal" cataclysmic variable (CV), i.e. according to…

The magnetic fields of the nascent neutron stars could be submerged in the crust by rapid fallback accretion and could diffuse to the surface later in life. According to this field burial scenario young pulsars may have growing magnetic…

Transit surveys have revealed a significant population of compact multi-planet systems, containing several sub-Neptune-mass planets on close-in, tightly-packed orbits. These systems are thought to have formed through a final phase of giant…

Using high-precision astrometric data from Gaia DR3 and updated systemic velocities from the literature, kinematical properties of cataclysmic variables (CVs) were investigated. By constraining the data according to the total space velocity…

We have taken K-band spectroscopy of a sample of 13 pre-CVs in order to examine them for anomalous chemical abundances. In particular, we study the strength of the 12CO and 13CO absorption bands that have been found diminished and enhanced,…

We studied two objects identified as a Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) with periods exceeding the natural boundary for Roche lobe filling ZAMS secondary stars. We present observational results for V1082 Sgr with 20.82 h orbital period, an…

We have known for a long time that many of the measured white dwarf (WD) masses in cataclysmic variables (CVs) significantly exceed the mean mass of single WDs. This was thought to be related to observational biases, but recent…

We analyze the ${\it Kepler}$ monitoring light curve of a blazar W2R 1926$+$42 to examine features of microvariability by means of the "shot analysis" technique. We select 195 intra-day, flare-like variations (shots) for the continuous…

Spectroscopic observations of stars in young open clusters have revealed evidence for a dichotomous distribution of stellar rotational velocities, with 10-30% of stars rotating slowly and the remaining 70-90% rotating fairly rapidly. At the…

We consider the formation of low-mass X-ray binaries containing accreting neutron stars via the helium-star supernova channel. The predicted relative number of short-period transients provides a sensitive test of the input physics in this…

The spin dynamics of bilayer cuprate compounds are studied in a basic model. The magnetic spectral properties are calculated in linear spin-wave theory for several stripe configurations which differ by the relative location of the stripes…

We present phase-resolved spectroscopy and photometry of a source discovered with the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey (GBS), CXOGBSJ174444.7-260330 (aka CX93 and CX153 in the previously published GBS list). We find two possible values for the…

We have initiated a dedicated search for new CVs, selecting candidates on the base of their spectroscopic properties in the Hamburg Quasar Survey (HQS), which lead up to now to the identification of 50 new CVs and a dozen good candidates.…

We investigate the scaling limit of the seed bank diffusion when reproduction and migration (to and from the seed bank) happen on different time-scales. More precisely, we consider the case when migration is `slow' and reproduction is…

Studies using asteroseismic ages and rotation rates from star-spot rotation have indicated that standard age-rotation relations may break down roughly half-way through the main sequence lifetime, a phenomenon referred to as weakened…