X-ray variations in the inner accretion flow of Dwarf Novae

TL;DR

This study investigates X-ray and UV variability in dwarf novae, revealing inner disk truncation, disk movement during outbursts, and estimating accretion flow viscosity, enhancing understanding of accretion processes in these systems.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence of inner disk truncation in dwarf novae and estimates the viscosity parameter, advancing models of accretion flows in these systems.

Findings

Inner disk radii range from 10-3×10^9 cm.

X-ray/UV time lags of 96-181 seconds observed.

Disk moves inward during outburst and recedes afterward.

Abstract

We show for five DN systems, SS Cyg, VW Hyi, RU Peg, WW Cet and T Leo that the UV and X-ray power spectra of their time variable light curves are similar in quiescence. All of them show a break in their power spectra, which in the framework of the model of propagating fluctuations indicates inner disk truncation. We derive the inner disk radii for these systems in a range (10-3)$\times10^{9}$ cm. We analyze the RXTE data of SS Cyg in outburst and compare it with the power spectra, obtained during the period of quiescence. We show that during the outburst the disk moves towards the white dwarf and recedes as the outburst declines. We calculate the correlation between the simultaneous UV and X-ray light curves of the five DN studied in this work, using the XMM-Newton data obtained in the quiescence and find X-ray time lags of 96-181 sec. This can be explained by the travel time of matter from a truncated inner disk to the white dwarf surface. We suggest that, in general, DN may have truncated accretion disks in quiescence which can also explain the UV and X-ray delays in the outburst stage and that the accretion may occur through coronal flows in the disk (e.g., rotating accretion disk coronae). Within a framework of the model of propagating fluctuations the comparison of the X-ray/UV time lags observed by us in the case of DN systems with those, detected for a magnetic Intermediate Polar allows us to make a rough estimate of the viscosity parameter $\alpha\sim0.25$ in the innermost parts of the accretion flow of DN systems.