Are Short Period CV Secondaries Normal?Deconvolving the Evolutionary History of Cataclysmic Variables

Details Are Short Period CV Secondaries Normal?Deconvolving the Evolutionary History of Cataclysmic Variables Are Short Period CV Secondaries Normal?Deconvolving the Evolutionary History of Cataclysmic Variables

Jan 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21349101h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, #491.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.466

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We present the results of VLT ISAAC K-band spectroscopy of several short period cataclysmic variable (CV) systems: EX Hya, WX Hyi, V2051 Oph, and Z Cha. Recent studies of CV secondaries in the infrared have cast doubt on the standard paradigm of CV evolution, raising important concerns specifically about the evolution of the secondary star and its initial mass. Previous infrared spectroscopic surveys of CVs above the 2 to 3 hour "period gap" reveal that these secondaries suffer a universal deficit of C12, enhanced levels of C13, and unusual abundance patterns for other species (e.g., Mg,Si, Al, Ca). Infrared spectroscopy of short period magnetic CVs (polars) have shown that their secondary stars appear completely normal, and the secondaries in a sample of "pre-CVs" have normal carbon abundances. Further understanding of the evolutionary history of CVs requires spectroscopy of short period, non-magnetic CVs, which we present in this work. It is extremely difficult to see the secondary stars in short period systems, since the low luminosity secondaries are swamped by the accretion disks in these objects. But by the use of the VLT ISAAC, we have pierced the veil of the short period CVs and present firm detections of the the secondaries in these systems. Implications for CV evolution and formation scenarios will be discussed.

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