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J. A. Orosz, R. A. Wade (Penn State)
An extensive grid of synthetic mid- and far-ultraviolet spectra for accretion disks in cataclysmic variables has recently been presented by Wade and Hubeny (1998, ApJ, Vol 510, in press). In those models, the disk was assumed to be in steady-state, that is T\rm eff(r) is specified completely by the mass M\rm wd and radius R\rm wd of the accreting white dwarf star and the mass transfer rate dM/dt which is constant throughout the disk. In these models, T\rm eff(r) \propto r-3/4 except as modified by a cutoff term near the white dwarf.
Actual disks may vary from the steady-state prescription for T\rm eff(r), however, e.g. owing to outburst cycles in dwarf novae (dM/dt not constant with radius) or irradiation (in which case T\rm eff in the outer disk is raised above T\rm steady). To show how such disks might differ from steady disks, we present a study of models in which power-law temperature profiles T\rm eff(r) \propto r-\alpha with \alpha \neq 3/4 are specified. Otherwise, the construction of the models is the same as in the Wade & Hubeny grid, to allow comparison. Both UV spectral energy distributions and appearance of the UV line spectra will be discussed.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: orosz@astro.psu.edu