Result of the eclipsing nova-like variables study: (ApJ paper)
Concluding the research project on modelling the mass outflows of two nova-like variables, which I have carried out at the StScI with Knox Long, we published our results in a paper on ApJ.
The presence of mass outflow from accretion disks in a wide range of astrophysical systems implies an inherent connection between these two processes - accretion and mass ejection. Cataclysmic variables, as the nearest astrophysical systems in which the presence of such disk winds is established, provide an excellent environment to study and improve our understanding of this connection and of accretion physics. As a step in this direction, we modeled the UV spectra of the two eclipsing nova-like variables UX UMa and RW Tri in order to constrain the ionization structure and the geometry of their winds by comparing with HST observations. Employing Monte Carlo radiative transfer tool PYTHON and in combination with parametrized biconical wind structure prescription, plausible wind models have been found and the important resonance lines in the emergent spectra have been reproduced. Both wind models exhibit similar ion distributions and line forming regions. With mass loss rates in the range of 6% to 8% of the accretion rate, the radiation force should be dynamically important for driving the wind. However, additional mechanisms, most plausibly magnetic phenomena, are necessary to explain these mass loss rates, which are too high for purely line-driven outflows.