The disrupted magnetic braking hypothesis and the period gap of cataclysmic variables

Details The disrupted magnetic braking hypothesis and the period gap of cataclysmic variables The disrupted magnetic braking hypothesis and the period gap of cataclysmic variables

Oct 1989

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989apj...345..972t&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 345, Oct. 15, 1989, p. 972-977.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

44

Cataclysmic Variables, Dwarf Novae, Magnetic Stars, Stellar Magnetic Fields, Stellar Winds, Angular Momentum, Convection, Dynamo Theory, Magnetic Field Configurations, Stellar Mass Ejection

Scientific paper

The consequences of a rearrangement of the surface magnetic field of a late-type star on the rate of angular momentum loss associated with a stellar wind are explored. The rearrangement of the field from a low-order to a higher order multipole may plausibly reflect the changing character of a stellar dynamo as a rapidly rotating mass-losing star in a short-period binary system enters into a fully convective state. Upon generalizing the results of Mestel and Spruit (1987) to higher order magnetic field configurations, it is found that the fraction of open field lines decreases by a factor ranging from 2 to 200 (depending on which multipole order is assumed) for rotational periods near 3 hr. The angular momentum loss rate corresponding to this reduction can decrease by a factor ranging from 3 to 2000. This loss in effectiveness of the stellar wind can be accomplished without a sudden decline in magnetic activity. It is suggested that the operation of a mechanism of this type may be responsible for the origin of the period gap of cataclysmic variable binary systems.

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