Pulsations in the white dwarf primary of a cataclysmic variable star

Van Zyl, Liza Marie

Pulsations in the white dwarf primary of a cataclysmic variable star

Master Thesis

1999

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Astronomy

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Abstract

The field of Asteroseismology provides powerful techniques for the study of pulsating white dwarf stars. If these techniques could be applied to the white dwarf primaries of Cataclysmic Variable stars, the study of accretion in interacting binary systems would benefit enormously. Our understanding of normal modes in white dwarf pulsators would benefit likewise from the study of how they respond to accretion. This dissertation presents the analysis of preliminary observations of the Dwarf Nova GW Librae , the first Cataclysmic Variable star found to have a DAY primary. A brief introduction to Cataclysmic Variables and the pulsating white dwarfs is given, and the significance of GW Librae to these fields of study is discussed. In this dissertation I present the analysis of 7 weeks of high speed CCD observations obtained on GW Librae during 1997 and 1998. The power in the pulsation spectrum concentrates principally in regions near 376s and 650s. GW Librae has a pulsation spectrum that shows dramatic changes on a monthly basis, typical of the pulsating DA white dwarfs.

Description

Includes bibliographical references.

Keywords

Astronomy

Reference:

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Masters

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