Related papers: Predictions of the disc instability model
I review the basics of the disc instability model (DIM) for dwarf novae and soft-X-ray transients and its most recent developments, as well as the current limitations of the model, focusing on the dwarf nova case. Although the DIM uses the…
The disc instability model which is supposed to describe outbursts of dwarf nova and low-mass X-ray binary transient systems is presented and reviewed in detail. Various deficiencies of the model are pointed out and various remedies and…
Context. Although the disc instability model is widely accepted as the explanation for dwarf nova outbursts, it is still necessary to confront its predictions to observations because much of the constraints on angular momentum transport in…
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…
Using the disc instability model and a simple but physically reasonable model for the X-ray, extreme UV, UV and optical emission of dwarf novae we investigate the time lags observed between the rise to outburst at different wavelengths. We…
I review models trying to explain dwarf-nova outbursts and soft X-ray transients. The disc-instability model for dwarf-novae is still in its preliminary state of development: its predictions depend very strongly on the unknown viscosity…
We revisit a core prediction of the disc instability model (DIM) applied to X-ray binaries. The model predicts the existence of a critical mass transfer rate, which depends on disc size, separating transient and persistent systems. We…
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…
I review several problems which arise when one tries to apply the standard dwarf nova instability model to outbursts of soft X-ray transients.
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…
We show that the disc instability model can reproduce all the observed properties of Z Cam stars if the energy equation includes heating of the outer disc by the mass-transfer stream impact and by tidal torques and if the mass-transfer rate…
Previous theoretical studies indicate that the inner disk in dwarf novae evaporates into a high-temperature, optically thin, and geometrically thick accretion flow during quiescence, with the inner edge moving toward the white dwarf at the…
The disc instability model accounts well for most of the observed properties of dwarf novae and soft X-ray transients, but the rebrightenings, reflares, and echoes occurring at the end of outbursts or shortly after in WZ Sge stars or soft…
A thermal/viscous instability of the accretion disc arising when hydrogen is partially ionized is the most popular explanation of the outbursts of both dwarf novae (DN) and soft X-ray transients (SXT). During an outburst, the disc expands…
The disc instability mechanism (DIM) is widely accepted to account for the transient behaviour of dwarf novae (DNe), which experience short outbursts separated by long quiescence. The duty cycle (the ratio between the outburst duration and…
Our understanding of the structure and properties of accretion disks in quiescent Dwarf Novae and X-ray Transients is very limited. Observations during quiescence challenge some of the standard Disk Instability Model (DIM) predictions. Our…
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 show that if the dwarf-nova disc instability model includes the effects of heating by stream impact and tidal torque dissipation in the outer disc, the calculated properties of dwarf-nova outbursts change considerably, and several…
Context. The disc instability model (DIM) successfully explains why many accreting compact binary systems exhibit outbursts, during which their luminosity increases by orders of magnitude. The DIM correctly predicts which systems should be…
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…