Accretion disks in interacting binaries: simulations of the stream-disk impact

Jun, 1996
Published in:
  • Astrophys.J. 470 (1996) 1024
e-Print:

Citations per year

1997200420112018202302468
Abstract: (arXiv)
We investigate the impact between the gas stream from the inner Lagrangian point and the accretion disk in interacting binaries, using three dimensional Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics simulations. We find that a significant fraction of the stream material can ricochet off the disk edge and overflow towards smaller radii, and that this generates pronounced non-axisymmetric structure in the absorption column towards the central object. We discuss the implications of our results for observations and time-dependent models of low-mass X-ray binaries, cataclysmic variables and supersoft X-ray sources.