[Previous] | [Session 126] | [Next]
R.E. Taam (Northwestern University), H.C. Spruit (Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik)
The influence of a circumbinary (CB) disk on the evolution of cataclysmic variable (CV) binary systems is investigated. The torque exerted by the CB disk can provide a positive feedback on the mass transfer rate between the stellar components of the system and the CB disk. Such a mechanism may be responsible for producing a variation of mass transfer rates in CV's. The results of evolutionary calculations will be presented and the consequences of such disks on CV evolution will be discussed.
This research is supported by NSF under grant AST-9727875 and by the European Commission under grant TMR grant ERBFMRX-CT98-0195.