Variability and multiperiodic oscillations in the X-ray light curve of the classical nova V4743 Sgr

The classical nova V4743 Sgr was observed with XMM–Newton for about 10 h on 2003 April 4, 6.5 months after optical maximum. At this time, this nova had become the brightest supersoft X-ray source ever observed. In this paper, we present the results of a time-series analysis performed on the X-ray light curve (LC) obtained in this observation, and in a previous shorter observation done with Chandra 16 d earlier. Intense variability, with amplitude as large as 40 per cent of the total flux, was observed both times. Similarities can be found between the two observations in the structure of the variations. Most of the variability is well represented as a combination of oscillations at a set of discrete frequencies lower than 1.7 mHz. At least five frequencies are constant over the 16 d time interval between the two observations. We suggest that a period in the power spectrum of both LCs at the frequency of 0.75 mHz and its first harmonic are related to the spin period of the white dwarf (WD) in the system, and that other observed frequencies are signatures of non-radial WD pulsations. A possible signal with a 24 000 s period is also found in the XMM–Newton LC: a cycle and a half are clearly identified. This period is consistent with the 24 278 s periodicity discovered in the optical LC of the source and thought to be the orbital period of the nova binary stellar system.     

VLT/FORS spectroscopy of faint cataclysmic variables discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We present medium-resolution VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy of six cataclysmic variables (CVs) discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We determine orbital periods for  SDSS J023322.61+005059.5 (96.08 ± 0.09 min), SDSS J091127.36+084140.7 (295.74 ± 0.22 min), SDSS J103533.02+055158.3 (82.10 ± 0.09 min)  and SDSS J121607.03+052013.9 (most likely 98.82 ± 0.16 min, but the one-day aliases at 92 and 107 min are also possible) using radial velocities measured from their Hα and Hβ emission lines. Three of the four orbital periods measured here are close to the observed 75–80 min minimum period for CVs, indicating that the properties of the population of these objects discovered by the SDSS are substantially different to those of the CVs found by other means. Additional photometry of SDSS J023322.61+005059.5 reveals a periodicity of approximately 60 min which we interpret as the spin period of the white dwarf, suggesting that this system is an intermediate polar with a low accretion rate. SDSS J103533.02+055158.3 has a period right at the observed minimum value, a spectrum dominated by the cool white dwarf primary star and exhibits deep eclipses, so is an excellent candidate for an accurate determination of the parameters of the system. The spectroscopic orbit of SDSS J121607.03+052013.9 has a velocity amplitude of only  13.8 ± 1.6 km s⁻¹  , implying that this system has an extreme mass ratio. From several physical constraints we find that this object must contain either a high-mass white dwarf or a brown-dwarf-mass secondary component or both.     

Where do the progenitors of millisecond pulsars come from?

Observations of a large population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) show a wide divergence in the orbital periods (from approximately hours to a few months). In the standard view, low‐mass X‐ray binaries (LMXBs) are considered as progenitors for some MSPs during the recycling process. We present a systematic study that combines different types of compact objects in binaries such as cataclysmic variables (CVs), LMXBs, and MSPs. We plot them together in the so called Corbet diagram. Larger and different samples are needed to better constrain the result as a function of the environment and formations. A scale diagram showing the distribution of MSPs for different orbital periods and the aspects for their progenitors relying on accretion induced collapse (AIC) of white dwarfs in binaries. Thus massive CVs (M ≥ 1.1 M_⊙) can play a vital role on binary evolution, as well as of the physical processes involved in the formation and evolution of neutron stars and their magnetic fields, and could turn into binary MSPs with different scales of orbital periods; this effect can be explained by the AIC process. This scenario also suggests that some fraction of isolated MSPs in the Galactic disk could be formed through the same channel, forming the contribution of some CVs to the single‐degenerate progenitors of Type Ia supernova. Furthermore, we have refined the statistical distribution and evolution by using updated data. This implies that the significant studies of compact objects in binary systems can benefit from the Corbet diagram.Observations of a large population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) show a wide divergence in the orbital periods (from approximately hours to a few months). In the standard view, low‐mass X‐ray binaries (LMXBs) are considered as progenitors for some MSPs during the recycling process. We present a systematic study that combines different types of compact objects in binaries such as cataclysmic variables (CVs), LMXBs, and MSPs. We plot them together in the so called Corbet diagram. Larger and different samples are needed to better constrain the result as a function of the environment and formations. A scale diagram showing the distribution of MSPs for different orbital periods and the aspects for their progenitors re     

The effective temperature distribution of steady-state, mass-losing accretion discs

Mass loss appears to be a common phenomenon among astrophysical accretion disc systems. An outflow emanating from an accretion disc can act as a sink for mass, angular momentum and energy, and can therefore alter the dissipation rates and effective temperatures across the disc. Here, the radial distributions of dissipation rate and effective temperature across a Keplerian, steady-state, mass-losing accretion disc are derived, using a simple, parametric approach that is sufficiently general to be applicable to many types of dynamical disc–wind models.
Effective temperature distributions for mass-losing accretion discs in cataclysmic variables are shown explicitly, with parameters chosen to describe both radiation-driven and centrifugally driven outflows. For realistic wind mass-loss rates of a few per cent, only centrifugally driven outflows – particularly those in which mass loss is concentrated in the inner disc – are likely to alter the effective temperature distribution of the disc significantly. Accretion discs that drive such outflows could produce spectra and eclipse light curves that are noticeably different from those produced by standard, conservative discs.     

Indirect imaging of the accretion stream in eclipsing polars – II. HU Aquarii

We apply our technique for indirect imaging of the accretion stream to the polar HU Aquarii, using eclipse profiles observed when the system was in a high accretion state. The accretion stream is relatively luminous, contributing as much as the accretion region on the white dwarf, or more, to the overall system brightness. We model the eclipse profiles using a model stream consisting of a ballistic trajectory from the L1 point followed by a magnetically channelled trajectory that follows a dipole field line out of the orbital plane. We perform model fits using two geometries: a stream that accretes on to both footpoints of the field line, and a stream that accretes only on to the footpoint of the field line above the orbital plane. The stream images indicate that the distribution of emission along the stream is not a simple function of the radial distance from the white dwarf. The stream is redirected by the magnetic field of the white dwarf at a distance 1.0–1.3×10¹⁰ cm from the white dwarf; this implies a mass transfer rate in the range 8–76×10¹⁶ g s⁻¹. The absorption dips in the light curve indicate that the magnetically entrained part of the stream moves from 42° to 48° from the line of centres over the three nights of observation. This is in close agreement with the results of the one-footpoint models, suggesting that this is the more appropriate geometry for these data. The stream images show that, in almost all sections of the stream, the flux peaks in B and is successively fainter in U , V and R .     

On the observability of spiral structures in cataclysmic variable accretion discs

We use the grid of hydrodynamic accretion disc calculations of Stehle to construct orbital phase‐dependent emission‐line profiles of thin discs carrying spiral density waves. The observational signatures of spiral waves are explored to establish the feasibility of detecting spiral waves in cataclysmic variable discs using prominent emission lines in the visible range of the spectrum. For high Mach number accretion discs ( M v _φ c _s≃ 15 – 30), we find that the spiral shock arms are so tightly wound that they leave few obvious fingerprints in the emission lines. Only a minor variation of the double peak separation in the line profile at a level of ∼8 per cent is produced. For accretion discs in outburst ( M ≃ 5 – 20) however, the lines are dominated by the emission from an m =2 spiral pattern in the disc. We show that reliable Doppler tomograms of spiral shock patterns can be reconstructed provided that a signal‐to‐noise ratio of at least 15, a wavelength resolution of ∼80 km s⁻¹ and a time resolution of ∼50 spectra per binary orbit are achieved. We confirm that the observed spiral pattern in the disc of IP Pegasi can be reproduced by tidal density waves in the accretion disc and demands the presence of a large, hot disc, at least in the early outburst stages.