The Space Density of Magnetic and Non-magnetic Cataclysmic Variables, and Implications for CV Evolution

Authors

  • M. L. Pretorius Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom 2Previous address: School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14311/APP.2015.02.0026

Abstract

We present constraints on the space densities of non-magnetic and magnetic cataclysmic variables, and discuss some implications for models of the evolution of CVs. The high predicted non-magnetic CV space density is only consistent with observations if the majority of these systems are extremely faint in X-rays. The data cannot rule out the very simple model where long-period IPs evolve into polars and account for the entire short-period polar population. The fraction of
WDs that are strongly magnetic is not significantly higher for CV primaries than for isolated WDs. Finally, the space density of IPs is high enough to explain the bright, hard X-ray source population seen in the Galactic Centre.

Downloads

Published

2015-02-23

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2015): THE GOLDEN AGE OF CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES AND RELATED OBJECTS - II

Section

Articles

License

Copyright notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of the first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., to post it to an institutional repository or to publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges as well as earlier and greater citation of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).