The precession of eccentric discs in close binaries

Details The precession of eccentric discs in close binaries The precession of eccentric discs in close binaries

1999-11-25

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9911466v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

6 pages to appear in MNRAS (accepted)

Scientific paper

10.1046/j.1365-8711.2000.03424.x

We consider the precession rates of eccentric discs in close binaries, and compare theoretical predictions with the results of numerical disc simulations and with observed superhump periods. A simple dynamical model for precession is found to be inadequate. For mass ratios less than approximately 1/4 a linear dynamical model does provide an upper limit for disc precession rates. Theory suggests that pressure forces have a significant retrograde impact upon the precession rate (Lubow 1992). We find that the disc precession rates for three systems with accurately known mass ratios are significantly slower than predicted by the dynamical theory, and we attribute the difference to pressure forces. By assuming that pressure forces of similar magnitude occur in all superhumping systems, we obtain an improved fit to superhump observations.

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