Rapid oscillations in cataclysmic variable stars

Abstract

Rapid quasi-coherent oscillations were detected in the optical light curves of 24 cataclysmic variable stars (CVS). In 12 of these systems (TU Men, WW Cet, HX Peg, BP CrA, BR Lup, HP Nor, AG Hya, TW Vir, PU CMa, V426 Ooph, V1193 Ori, and CR Boo) for the first time. The results contribute to the observational record of the phenomenology of dwarf nova oscillations (DNOs), quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), and longer period dwarf nova oscillations (lpDNOs), strengthen the correlation, valid over nearly six orders of magnitude in frequency, between the ratio of time scales of different classes of oscillations in white dwarf, neutron star, and black hole binaries, and show that the recently recognized lpDNOs occur fairly commonly in high mass transfer rate CVs.