AAS Meeting #193 - Austin, Texas, January 1999
Session 101. Cataclysmic Variables and Novae
Display, Saturday, January 9, 1999, 9:20am-4:00pm, Exhibit Hall 1

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[101.13] Inclination-Dependent SPH Simulation Time Series of Superhump Oscillations

M. A. Wood (Florida Inst. of Technology), C. J. Burke (Yale University), J. C. Simpson (Computer Sciences Raytheon)

We calculate superhump light curves as a function of system inclination angle using the method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics and a simple raytracing method. For inclination angles i\le 45\circ the power is dominated by the superhump period, whereas for larger angles the light curve has a larger fractional amplitude and is dominated by higher frequencies which appear to be linear combinations of the orbital and superhump period --- i.e., the harmonics are blueshifted relative to the fundamental, as observed. These results suggest that the harmonic complexity of superhump light curves can provide independent constraints on the system inclination. Our simulations, which are fully three-dimensional, reveal a low-density bulge normal to the midplane in the disk sector undergoing the largest oscillations. This bulge precesses at the disk precession frequency of ~30-100 orbits, and may explain the color changes observed on the precession timescale in high-inclination systems.


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