17146399
Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Simulations of Apsidal and Nodal Superhumps.
In recent years, a handful of systems have been observed to show "negative" (nodal) superhumps, with periods slightly shorter than the orbital period. It has been suggested that these modes are a consequence of the slow retrograde precession of the line of nodes in a disk tilted with respect to the orbital plane. Our simulations confirm and refine this model: they suggest a roughly axisymmetric, retrogradely precessing, tilted disk that is driven at a period slightly less than half the orbital period as the tidal field of the orbiting secondary encounters, in turn, the two halves of the disk above and below the midplane. Each of these passings leads to viscous dissipation on one face of an optically thick disk-observers on opposite sides of the disk would each observe one brightening per orbit, but 180 degrees out of phase with each other.
118793525
The Kepler Light Curves of V1504 Cygni and V344 Lyrae: A Study of the Outburst Properties
We examine the Kepler light curves of VI504 Cyg and V344 Lyr, encompassing '"'-'460 d at I min cadence. During this span each system exhibited ",40 outbursts, including four superoutbursts. We find that, in both systems, the normal outbursts lying between two superoutbursts increase in duration by a factor rv 1.2-1. 7, and then reset to a small value after the following superoutburst. In V344 Lyr the trend of quiescent intervals between normal outbursts is to increase to a local maximum about half way through the supercycle the in­ terval from one superoutburst to the next - and then to decrease back to a small value by the time of the next superoutburst, whereas for V1504 Cyg the quiescent intervals are relatively constant during the supercycle. Both of these trends are inconsistent with the Osaki's thermal-tidal model, which robustly predicts a secular increase in the quiescent intervals between normal outbursts during a supercycle. Also, most of the normal out­ bursts have an asymmetric, fast-rise/slower-decline shape, which would be consistent with outbursts triggered at large radii. The exponential rate of dec.ay ?fthe plate~u phase. of the superoutbursts ~s 8 d m.ag- 1 for ~1504 Cyg and 12 d mag- for V344 Lyr. This time scale gives a direct measure of the VISCOUS time scale III the outer accretion disk given the expectation that the entire disk is in the hot, viscous state during superoutburst. The resulting constraint on the Shakura-Sunyaev parameter, ahot ::::: 0.1, is consistent with the value inferred from the fast dwarf nova decays. By looking at the slow decay rate for superoutbursts, which occur in systems below the period gap, in combination with the slow decay rate in one long outburst above the period gap (in U Gem), we infer a steep dependence of the decay rate on orbital period for long outbursts. We argue that this relation implies a steep dependence of acold on orbital period, which may be consistent with recent findings of Patterson, and is consistent with tidal torquing as being the dominant angular momentum transport mechanism in quiescent disks in interacting binary systems. Subject headings: cataclysmic variables: dwarf novae
5174643
SPH simulations of negative (nodal) superhumps: a parametric study
Negative superhumps in cataclysmic variable systems result when the accretion disc is tilted with respect to the orbital plane. The line of nodes of the tilted disc precesses slowly in the retrograde direction, resulting in a photometric signal with a period slightly less than the orbital period. We use the method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics to simulate a series of models of differing mass ratio and effective viscosity to determine the retrograde precession period and superhump period deficit e_ as a function of system mass ratio q. We tabulate our results and present fits to both e_ and e + versus q, as well as compare the numerical results with those compiled from the literature of negative superhump observations. One surprising result is that while we find negative superhumps most clearly in simulations with an accretion stream present, we also find evidence for negative superhumps in simulations in which we shut off the mass transfer stream completely, indicating that the origin of the photometric signal is more complicated than previously believed.
119205314
V344 LYRAE: A TOUCHSTONE SU UMa CATACLYSMIC VARIABLE IN THE KEPLER FIELD
We report on the analysis of the Kepler short-cadence (SC) light curve of V344 Lyr obtained during 2009 June 20 through 2010 March 19 (Q2-Q4). The system is an SU UMa star showing dwarf nova (DN) outbursts and superoutbursts, and promises to be a touchstone for CV studies for the foreseeable future. The system displays both positive and negative superhumps with periods of 2.20 and 2.06 hr, respectively, and we identify an orbital period of 2.11 hr. The positive superhumps have a maximum amplitude of ~0.25 mag, the negative superhumps have a maximum amplitude of ~0.8 mag, and the orbital period at quiescence has an amplitude of ~0.025 mag. The quality of the Kepler data is such that we can test vigorously the models for accretion disk dynamics that have been emerging in the past several years. The SC data for V344 Lyr are consistent with the model that two physical sources yield positive superhumps: early in the superoutburst, the superhump signal is generated by viscous dissipation within the periodically flexing disk, but late in the superoutburst, the signal is generated as the accretion stream bright spot sweeps around the rim of the non-axisymmetric disk. The disk superhumps are roughly anti-phased with the stream/late superhumps. The V344 Lyr data also reveal negative superhumps arising from accretion onto a tilted disk precessing in the retrograde direction and suggest that negative superhumps may appear during the decline of DN outbursts. The period of negative superhumps has a positive in between outbursts.
118373532
Kepler observations of V447 Lyr: an eclipsing U Gem Cataclysmic Variable
We present the results of an analysis of Kepler data covering 1.5 years of the dwarf nova V447 Lyr. We detect eclipses of the accretion disk by the mass donating secondary star every 3.74 hrs which is the binary orbital period. V447 Lyr is therefore the first dwarf nova in the Kepler field to show eclipses. We also detect five long outbursts and six short outbursts showing V447 Lyr is a U Gem type dwarf nova. We show that the orbital phase of the mid-eclipse occurs earlier during outbursts compared to quiescence and that the width of the eclipse is greater during outburst. This suggests that the bright spot is more prominent during quiescence and that the disk is larger during outburst than quiescence. This is consistent with an expansion of the outer disk radius due to the presence of high viscosity material associated with the outburst, followed by a contraction in quiescence due to the accretion of low angular momentum material. We note that the long outbursts appear to be triggered by a short outburst, which is also observed in the super-outbursts of SU UMa dwarf novae as observed using Kepler.
118619324
Quiescent Superhumps Detected in the Dwarf Nova V344 Lyrae by Kepler
The timing capabilities and sensitivity of Kepler, NASA's observatory to find Earth-sized planets within the habitable zone of stars, are well matched to the timescales and amplitudes of accretion disk variability in cataclysmic variables. This instrumental combination provides an unprecedented opportunity to test and refine stellar accretion paradigms with high-precision, uniform data, and containing none of the diurnal or season gaps that limit ground-based observations. We present a 3 month, 1 minute cadence Kepler light curve of V344 Lyr, a faint, little-studied dwarf nova within the Kepler field. The light curve samples V344 Lyr during five full normal outbursts and one superoutburst. Surprisingly, the superhumps found during the superoutburst continue to be detected during the following quiescent state and normal outburst. The fractional excess of the superhump period over the presumed orbital period suggests a relatively high binary mass ratio in a system where the radius of the accretion disk must vary by less than 2% in order to maintain tidal precession throughout the extended episode of superhumping. The disk radius is less restricted if the quiescent signal identified tentatively as the orbital period is a negative superhump, generated by a retrograde-precessing accretion disk, tilted with respect to the binary orbital plane.
11635873
Measurement of the branching fractions of the tau lepton using a tagged sample of tau decays.
The branching fractions for the major decay modes of the lepton are measured from a sample of tagged decays selected from +- pairs produced in e+e- annihilation. The decay products of one member of the +- pair are used to identify the event. The opposite member of the pair is then included in the sample if it satisfies an invariant-mass cut and a charged-multiplicity cut. In this way, we attempt to select an unbiased sample of decays. The sample is divided into categories based on charged- and neutral-particle multiplicities, and charged-particle identification. The branching fractions are measured simultaneously, with an unfold technique and a maximum-likelihood fit, with the sum of the branching fractions constrained to be unity. The branching fractions for the decay modes - K- and - K*- are fixed at the world averages in the fit. The following branching fractions are measured: B(-e) =(19.10.81.1)%, B(-' - )=(18.30.90.8)%, B(-) =(10.01.1 *1,4)%, B(-0) =(25.81.72.5)%, B(-(n0, n>1))=(12.01.42.5)%, B(-+-) =(6.7 0.80.9)%, and B(-+- (n0,n>0)) =(6.10.80.9)%. The total branching fraction to one charged pion plus at least one neutral hadron is measured to be (37.81.21.0)%. Limits on allowed decay modes involving the meson are discussed. © 1987 The American Physical Society.
9012400
Study of noncollinear two-charged-particle events produced in 29-GeV electron-positron annihilation.
This paper presents a study of events produced in 29-GeV electron-positron annihilation in which there are just two noncollinear charged particles, no detected photons, and two or more undetected particles. These events can be explained by attributing them primarily to the reactions e/sup +/e/sup -/..-->..e/sup +/e/sup -/e/sup +/e/sup -/ and e/sup +/e/sup -/..-->..e/sup +/e/sup -/..mu../sup +/..mu../sup -/ where just two particles appear in the Mark II detector. There is no evidence for unconventional sources for such events.
28162276
Radiative tau production and decay.
A study of the muon decay channel of the τ lepton with the presence of a photon has been carried out to verify theoretical predictions for the production rate of e + e - → τ + τ - γ and for the branching ratio of τ - → ν τ µ - ν µ γ. Included in this study is the first direct measurement of radiative tau decay. Using e + e - annihilation data taken at 29 GeV center-of-mass energy with the Mark II detector, we find the ratio of the measured τ - → ν τ µ - ν µ γ branching fraction to the expected value from QED to be 1.03 ± 0.42. The ratio of measured-to-predicted number of events from radiative T production, e + e - → τ + τ - γ, where one of the τ's decay to μνν is found to be 0.91 ± 0.20. We have not seen an indication of anomalous behavior in radiative tau events.