A disc wind origin for the optical spectra of dwarf novae in outburst

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Autori principali: Tampo, Yusuke, Knigge, Christian, Long, Knox S., Matthews, James H., Segura, Noel Castro
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Tampo, Yusuke
Knigge, Christian
Long, Knox S.
Matthews, James H.
Segura, Noel Castro
author_facet Tampo, Yusuke
Knigge, Christian
Long, Knox S.
Matthews, James H.
Segura, Noel Castro
contents Many high-state cataclysmic variables (CVs) exhibit blue-shifted absorption features in their ultraviolet (UV) spectra -- a smoking-gun signature of outflows. However, the impact of these outflows on {\em optical} spectra remains much more uncertain. During its recent outburst, the eclipsing dwarf nova V455 And displayed strong optical emission lines whose cores were narrower than expected from a Keplerian disc. Here, we explore whether disc + wind models developed for matching UV observations of CVs can also account for these optical spectra. Importantly, V455~And was extremely bright at outburst maximum: the accretion rate implied by fitting the optical continuum with a standard disc model is $\dot{M}_{\rm acc} \simeq 10^{-7}~{\rm M}_\odot~{\rm yr^{-1}}$. Allowing for continuum reprocessing in the outflow helps to relax this constraint. A disk wind can also broadly reproduce the optical emission lines, but only if the wind is (i) highly mass-loaded, with a mass-loss rate reaching $\dot{M}_{\rm wind} \simeq 0.4 \dot{M}_{\rm acc}$, and/or (ii) clumpy, with a volume filling factor $f_V \simeq 0.1$. The same models can describe the spectral evolution across the outburst, simply by lowering $\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ and $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}$. Extending these models to lower inclinations and into the UV produces spectra consistent with those observed in face-on high-state CVs. We also find, for the first time in simulations of this type, P-Cygni-like absorption features in the Balmer series, as have been observed in both CVs and X-ray binaries. Overall, dense disc winds provide a promising framework for explaining multiple observational signatures seen in high-state CVs, but theoretical challenges persist.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_14396
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A disc wind origin for the optical spectra of dwarf novae in outburst
Tampo, Yusuke
Knigge, Christian
Long, Knox S.
Matthews, James H.
Segura, Noel Castro
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Many high-state cataclysmic variables (CVs) exhibit blue-shifted absorption features in their ultraviolet (UV) spectra -- a smoking-gun signature of outflows. However, the impact of these outflows on {\em optical} spectra remains much more uncertain. During its recent outburst, the eclipsing dwarf nova V455 And displayed strong optical emission lines whose cores were narrower than expected from a Keplerian disc. Here, we explore whether disc + wind models developed for matching UV observations of CVs can also account for these optical spectra. Importantly, V455~And was extremely bright at outburst maximum: the accretion rate implied by fitting the optical continuum with a standard disc model is $\dot{M}_{\rm acc} \simeq 10^{-7}~{\rm M}_\odot~{\rm yr^{-1}}$. Allowing for continuum reprocessing in the outflow helps to relax this constraint. A disk wind can also broadly reproduce the optical emission lines, but only if the wind is (i) highly mass-loaded, with a mass-loss rate reaching $\dot{M}_{\rm wind} \simeq 0.4 \dot{M}_{\rm acc}$, and/or (ii) clumpy, with a volume filling factor $f_V \simeq 0.1$. The same models can describe the spectral evolution across the outburst, simply by lowering $\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ and $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}$. Extending these models to lower inclinations and into the UV produces spectra consistent with those observed in face-on high-state CVs. We also find, for the first time in simulations of this type, P-Cygni-like absorption features in the Balmer series, as have been observed in both CVs and X-ray binaries. Overall, dense disc winds provide a promising framework for explaining multiple observational signatures seen in high-state CVs, but theoretical challenges persist.
title A disc wind origin for the optical spectra of dwarf novae in outburst
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14396