The Accretional Heating of Magnetic White Dwarfs in AM Herculis Cataclysmics

Details The Accretional Heating of Magnetic White Dwarfs in AM Herculis Cataclysmics The Accretional Heating of Magnetic White Dwarfs in AM Herculis Cataclysmics

Jul 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993hst..prop.4496s&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #4496

Physics

Hst Proposal Id #4496

Scientific paper

We propose to obtain spectra of the highly magnetic white dwarfs in the cataclysmics AM Herculis and VV Puppis when they are exposed during the low optical brightness states of these systems. In these low states the white dwarf dominates the light of the system in the far UV. Our objectives are: (1) To determine for the first time for the case of magnetically controlled accretion, important physical properties such as the envelope depth, cooling cooling timescale and latitudinal (lateral) extent (surface area) of the accretional heating. This will be done by observing the white dwarfs during the low state; and making detailed comparisons of their line/continuum spectra and low state cooling curves with (a) synthetic spectral fitting and (b) quasi-static and 2D hydrodynamic model simulations; (2) the detection of photospheric metal absorption features in magnetic CV white dwarfs for the first time, yielding the composition and the first chemical abundances of the accreted photospheric material; (3) To place constraints on the dominant viscosity (e.g., turbulent, magnetic) and nature/structure of the accretion flow at the region of impingement with the stellar photosphere. This includes constraining the fractionation and diffusion of accreted material in the presence of magnetic fieelds exceeding 10 MG. Our scientific objectives will be accomplished with GHRS and FOS high quality spectra. In the past four years AM Her has been in the low state 60% of the time.

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