Accretion Disks in Interacting Binaries: Simulations of the Stream-Disk Impact
Abstract
We investigate the impact between the gas stream from the inner Lagrangian point and the accretion disk in interacting binaries using three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. We find that a significant fraction of the stream material can ricochet off the disk edge and overflow toward smaller radii and that this generates pronounced nonaxisymmetric structure in the absorption column toward the central object. We discuss the implications of our results for observations and timedependent models of low-mass X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables, and supersoft X-ray sources.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- October 1996
- DOI:
- 10.1086/177928
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9606038
- Bibcode:
- 1996ApJ...470.1024A
- Keywords:
-
- ACCRETION;
- ACCRETION DISKS;
- STARS: BINARIES: CLOSE;
- HYDRODYNAMICS;
- STARS: NOVAE;
- CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES;
- X-RAYS: STARS;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- LaTeX (aaspp.sty), 19 pages including 7 of 8 figures. The paper and remaining figure are also available at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~parm/lmxb.html . ApJ in press