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Studies in Flickering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

W. F. Welsh ,
Janet H. Wood  and
K. Horne
W. F. Welsh
Affiliation:
Keele University
Janet H. Wood
Affiliation:
Keele University
K. Horne
Affiliation:
University of St. Andrews

Abstract

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Flickering is a poorly understood phenomenon associated with accretion processes, but this does not suffice to make it interesting. Why then should we bother studying this ‘noise’? Three reasons come to mind: (i) flickering is a fundamental signature of accretion, to the point of being a necessary characteristic (if it doesn’t flicker, it’s not a CV); (ii) energetically, flickering is not a small effect and can contribute up to a few tens of percent of the total luminosity of the system (hence it is often more luminous than the entire secondary star); (iii) flickering is inherently a time-dependent phenomenon and it is hoped that it can provide clues to the nature of the disc viscosity, something that time-independent theory cannot provide.

Type
Non-Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 158: Cataclysmic Variables and Related Objects , 1996 , pp. 29 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1996

References

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5. Welsh, W.F., Wood, J.H., 1995, in “Flares & Flashes” – Proc. of IAU Colloquium 151, eds. Greiner, J., Duerbeck, H.W., Gershberg, R.E., Springer–Verlag, p 300.Google Scholar