Interaction of the stream from L1 with the outer edge of the accretion disk in a cataclysmic variable

Resumo

Vertical oscillations of the gas at the outer edge of the accretion disk in a semi-detached binary due to interaction with the stream of matter from the inner Lagrangian point L₁ are considered. Mixing of the matter from the stream from L₁ with matter of the disk halo results in the formation of a system of two diverging shocks and a contact discontinuity, or so-called “hot line”. The passage of matter through the region of the hot line leads to an increase in its vertical velocity and a thickening of the disk at phases 0.7−0.8. Subsequently, the matter moving along the outer edge of the disk also experiences vertical oscillations, forming secondary maxima at phases 0.2−0.4. It is shown that, for systems with component mass ratios of 0.6, these oscillations will be amplified with each passage of the matter through the hotline zone, while the observations will be quenched in systems with component mass ratios ~0.07 and ~7. The most favorable conditions for the flow of matter from the stream through the edge of the disk arise for component mass ratios ~0.62. A theoretical relation between the phases of disk thickenings and the component mass ratio of the system is derived.