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A.K. Jones (Furman University), M.A. Wood (Florida Institute of Technology)
We simulate the dynamics of a cataclysmic variable accretion disk undergoing SU UMa superhump oscillations using the method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and use IDL's Object Graphics libraries to visualize the results as still frames and MPEG animations. The simulation mass ratio is M2/M1 = 0.075 and the disk has N=25,000 particles. A series of 1800 frames were rendered, yielding a total of 36 orbits of the binary system. The primary and secondary are rendered in 3-D, and any inclination can be chosen for the rendering. The SPH particles are color coded by relative temperature, and the simulation's bolometric "light curve" is scrolled at the bottom of the animation, which greatly aids in developing an intuitive understanding of the physical origin of the observed superhump oscillations. The IDL code and sample visualizations are available at www.astro.fit.edu/reu/jw.html.
This work was supported by the NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site Program through grant AST96169939 to Florida Tech and the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA).
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The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: aaron.jones@furman.edu