Precession of White Dwarfs in CVs

TL;DR

This paper discusses the phenomenon of precession in white dwarfs within cataclysmic variables, highlighting its potential to explain observed periodicities that surpass their spin periods, and draws parallels with precession observed in other celestial bodies.

Contribution

It explores the possibility of precession in rapidly rotating white dwarfs and its implications for observed periodic phenomena in these systems.

Findings

Precession periods in white dwarfs can be within observable ranges.

Precession can account for periodicities longer than spin periods.

White dwarf precession may explain certain observational phenomena in CVs.

Abstract

Precession is observed routinely in solid bodies of Solar system and it has been invoked to explain number of phenomena observed in pulsars (i.e. Link 2003, Breton et al. 2008). White dwarfs also have been considered as possible candidates of precessing stellar objects. In slowly rotating compact stars, the precession period is extremely long and the amplitude of precession is small. However, in rapid rotating neutron stars and white dwarfs, the precession period is still within reasonable observational limits and can explain observed periodicities exceeding spin periods by several times.