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Magnetic braking in cataclysmic and low-mass X-ray binaries

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Abstract

The chromosphreric-coronal emission of lower Main-Sequence single and binary stars can be correlated with an activity parameter of typeR=g(B-V)P −1, whereP is the rotation or orbital period andg(B-V) a function of the color resembling the convective turnover time. Observations indicate that the active region area coverage filling factor grows asR 2, and the whole stellar surface becomes filled with closed loop structures atR≃3. A braking formula is proposed (Equation 4) to include all periods (0.d1≲R≲30d) and spectral types F-M. On the basis of this equation, the mass transfer rates in compact binaries (driven by the gradual loss of orbital angular momentum) are discussed. It is concluded that the magnetic braking has good chances of being that mechanism which drives the mass transfer in cataclysmic variables and galactic bulge X-ray sources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nordita, Copenhagen, Denmark

    O. Vilhu

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  1. O. Vilhu
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On leave from Observatory and Astrophysics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

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Vilhu, O. Magnetic braking in cataclysmic and low-mass X-ray binaries. Astrophys Space Sci 99, 287–294 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00650252

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00650252

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