The SW Sex enigma
V. S. Dhillon, D. A. Smith, T. R. Marsh

TL;DR
This study investigates the enigmatic properties of SW Sex stars, revealing that their single-peaked emission lines and other features can be explained by bright-spot emission and a self-occulting, flared accretion disc, challenging previous magnetically-driven models.
Contribution
The paper provides high-resolution spectrophotometry of SW Sex stars, proposing a new model involving bright-spot emission and a self-occulting disc to explain their peculiar spectral features.
Findings
Single-peaked emission lines originate near the bright spot.
Flaring in HeII 4686A suggests non-magnetic disc regions.
Transient absorption features indicate ejected blobs possibly driven by magnetic propellers.
Abstract
The SW Sex stars are a class of cataclysmic variables, originally identified because they shared a number of enigmatic properties - most notably, single-peaked emission lines instead of the double-peaked lines one would expect from their high-inclination accretion discs. We present high time-resolution spectrophotometry of the eclipsing nova-like variables SW Sex and DW UMa, two of the founding members of the SW Sex class. Both systems show single-peaked Balmer and HeII 4686A emission lines that appear to originate from a region in the disc that lies close to, but downstream of, the bright spot. The emission-line light curves are consistent with the finding from X-ray and ultraviolet observations that we predominantly see the flared disc rim and the unobscured back portion of the disc in these systems. In DW UMa, the HeII 4686A emission line originates from close to the white dwarf and…
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