Related papers: The implications of disc instabilities on cataclys…
I review, from an observational perspective, the interactions of accretion discs with magnetic fields in cataclysmic variable stars. I start with systems where the accretion flows via a stream, and discuss the circumstances in which the…
We review our current knowledge of thermal and viscous instabilities in accretion discs around compact objects. We begin with classical disc models based on analytic viscosity prescriptions, discussing physical uncertainties and exploring…
We study the effect of a white dwarf on the spin-down of a cataclysmic variable system using a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic numerical model. The model includes the stellar corona, the stellar wind, and the WD mass and magnetic…
The disc instability model (DIM) has been very successful in explaining the dwarf nova outbursts observed in cataclysmic variables. When, as in intermediate polars (IP), the accreting white dwarf is magnetized, the disc is truncated at the…
In the standard thin disc formalism the dimensionless $\alpha$ parameter is usually assumed to be constant. However, there are good theoretical reasons for believing, as well as evidence from simulations, that $\alpha$ is dependent on…
The study of outer disc radius variations in close binary systems is important for understanding the structure and evolution of accretion discs. These variations are predicted by models of both quasi steady and time-dependent discs, and…
The influence of the magnetic field on process of the accretion onto White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) is discussed. Except for the Polars or AM Her objects, the strength of magnetic field can not be measured directly in CVs by…
Although during the last decade new observations and new theoretical results have brought better understanding of the physics of accretion onto compact objects, many old and several new questions and problems await answers and solutions. I…
The standard accretion discs are known to be thermally and viscously unstable over a certain range of temperatures. In the inner disc regions there may develop radiation pressure driven instability, which is possibly related to the rapid…
The magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs) present a wealth of observational diagnostics for studying accretion flows interacting with a magnetosphere. Spin-period pulsations from the rotation of the white dwarf are seen in optical light, in…
According to the standard thin disc theory, it is predicted that the radiation-pressure-dominated inner region of a thin disc is thermally unstable, while observations suggest that it is common for a thin disc of more than 0.01 Eddington…
In the framework of the dwarf nova thermal-viscous disc instability model, we investigate the combined effects on the predicted dwarf nova lightcurves of irradiating the accretion disc and the secondary star and of evaporating the inner…
The disc instability model successfully reproduces many of the observed properties of cataclysmic variables. However, additional ingredients such as mass-transfer variations, disc irradiation, stream-disc overflow, or inner-disc truncation…
Accretion discs that are tilted with respect to their compact hosts can warp out-of-plane through general relativistic frame-dragging. Warp influences disc dynamics in ways that have been studied extensively, especially as regards…
We consider accretion onto the white dwarfs in cataclysmic variables in relation to nova eruptions, dwarf nova outbursts, hibernation and non-radial oscillations.
We explore the consequences of a magnetic dynamo origin for the viscosity in accretion discs, for the structure and evolution of discs in dwarf nova systems. We propose that the rapid cooling that sets in at the end of a dwarf nova eruption…
A new theory of eccentric accretion discs is presented. Starting from the basic fluid-dynamical equations in three dimensions, I derive the fundamental set of one-dimensional equations that describe how the mass, angular momentum and…
We investigate the growth of tidal instabilities in accretion discs in a binary star potential, using three dimensional numerical simulations. As expected from analytic work, the disc is prone to an eccentric instability provided that it is…
Accretion disc outbursts are re-occurring events observed in various astrophysical systems, including X-ray binaries and cataclysmic variables. These outbursts are characterized by a sudden increase in luminosity due to various…
We investigate the effects of tidally induced asymmetric disc structure on accretion onto the white dwarf in intermediate polars. Using numerical simulation, we show that it is possible for tidally induced spiral waves to propagate…